Make It Or Break It
by animefreakproductions5
Summary: Seiko Morishige and Mana Ikeda have managed to score high enough to be placed in Saotome Academy's S Class. Now, they, just like everyone else studying at this school must work hard in order to accomplish their musical dreams. Seiko wants to be an idol. Mana wants to be a famous composer. However, there are some holes in the road. Will they make it or break it?
1. Welcome to Saotome Academy

**A/N:  
I own no music that will be introduced throughout this series. All creators will be credited in each chapter when it applies. Enjoy the read! Please review!**

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16-year-old Seiko Morishige shyly fidgets within the crowd of students who'd passed the entrance exam of Saotome Academy, one of the most prestigious music schools in the world. Her azalea eyes gain some courage to survey her surroundings but soon shoot to the ground as her claustrophobia kicks in. Her fluffy, light-copper hair drapes down her waist and gently moves with the slight breeze. The burgundy beads, tying up portions of her thick hair in two buns, one on each side of her head, shine with the bright sunlight.

"Seiko-chaaan!" A sweet voice loudly calls for the anxiety prone girl.

Seiko lifts her head to see a redheaded girl scrambling up to her. She beams at the newcomer and hugs her tightly. "Mana-chan!" Seiko exhales happily, "Am I glad to see you!"

Mana laughs, her freckles bouncing with the movement of her cheeks. "Well, prepare to be ecstatic. We're in the same class!" she tells. The two girls have managed to score high enough to be placed in S Class.

The copper-haired girl places a hand to her chest. She shakily sighs, "That's awesome. I was so worried!"

"For someone who wants to be an idol, you sure are shy," Mana replies, putting a hand on her hip. Even when they first met, Mana could tell that the smaller girl had a hard time with human interaction.

"I was a sheltered as a small child," Seiko chuckles uncomfortably, "I guess that's where I got it from."

The ginger-haired girl vows, "By the end of this year, we're going to break that shyness!"

Seiko nods with a small grin, a faint blush evident in her pale skin. She nudges her roommate towards some fold-out chairs, "The ceremony is going to start soon, let's get some good seats."

Most students are already picking or have already picked out their seats. Seiko spots Ren Jinguji, who'd she'd bumped into on exam day, much to her embarrassment and his amusement. Well, actually Mana points him out after scoffing at the herd of girls clambering their chairs around him.

"Well, everyone," the announcer starts, drawing everyone's attention, "welcome to the Saotome Academy Entrance Ceremony. First, an address from the headmaster." As the man nervously glances around, the students begin to murmur all around.

Seiko mutters aloud, "What is going on?" She falls silent as a booming laugh echoes through the air.

"Anyone who doesn't know love, don't even think to speak of songs! Just leave here at once!" the same loud voice instructs.

"S-someone's over there!"

All heads snap up to the roof of a building where a lone figure stands. Seiko makes out a jester's costume and raises an eyebrow.

The figure shouts, "The beating of a heart is the first the source of music!" The student shriek in absolute horror as the man leaps from the roof, plummeting down towards them. And then, a jerk, he hangs above. Seiko squints and glimpses thin wires supporting his weight.

As he bounces, the masked man introduces himself, "Yes, my friends. The headmaster _**me**_, Shining Saotome! Welcome to Saotome Academy, or rather, to this shining world!" Music begins to play as he spirals down to the stage, chucking his costume every which-way in the process. Shining is now dressed in a more semi-formal outfit with red tinted sunglasses. He dances before his new students with spotlights alternating colors, shouting, "Music is love!"

With ease of a man who's done it trillions of times, Shining Saotome twirls the microphone stand above his head all the while cheering, "Come now, soul! Enshrine it! Put your whole soul into the songs!" He noisily bangs the stand down, startling a few new students. As he is once again lifted by the high-tension wires, the headmaster preaches his final message for the ceremony, "Make your life bloom! Shine even brighter, people! Congratulations on your acceptance here! Thank you!" With that said, Shining flies off overhead just before confetti canons blow.

Seiko jumps so bad from the sudden, unexpected boom that she nearly knocks over her chair. Timidly sitting back down, she looks at Mana with a horrified expression. The frail, shy girl sputters, "I-I don't know I-if I c-can handle this anymore..." Her azalea eyes cloud with panic.

"You'll get used to it," Mana consoles, "Don't fret." Mana can already tell she has a lot of work to do on raising Seiko's confidence.

Back inside, once the ceremony finished, Seiko and Mana sit in the S Class homeroom, chattering away.

"So, that's our headmaster," Seiko murmurs, "I come from a relatively quiet family... other than my cousin and me if I'm comfortable, everyone else is quite docile."

The freckled girl leans on her elbows. She nods, adding, "He used to be the super-idol Shining Saotome. It seems the school owes its existence to the super, mega-hit song 'Owing to Love,' which I've heard sold 20 million CDs."

The light copper-haired girl practically shrinks in her seat. Quivering, Seiko utters, "2-20 million CDs?!" Her pale complexion becomes transparent glass. If her face got any whiter, she'd disappear completely. "I feel so pressured..."

"You're fine!" Mana scolds her self-conscious roomie. "Anyway, from the first to last, this school is first class! I mean, come on! Have you _**seen **_this place? It's like Heaven for musicians!"

As Seiko's eyes wander subconsciously, she spots a flash of platinum blonde hair and a fedora. Her eyes have seen that blonde hair! The shyer 16-year-old lurches to her feet as her azalea eyes scan around for the blonde hair. She sighs in frustration and embarrassment when she sees no sign of the person; instead she meets the confused looks of her fellow peers.

Mana, clutching at her heart, questions, concerned, "What's up?! You scared me!"

Blushing lightly, Seiko apologizes, "S-sorry! I... I thought I saw someone."

"Huh?" the freckled girl asks, cocking her head to the side.

Seiko sits down quickly, completely flustered. She hides her face with her light brown hair. "N-never mind... it's nothing..." the timid girl lifts her eyes as the classroom lights dim, "Eh?"

As the lights brightly flash back on, an orange-haired, well-dressed man strides confidently to his desk. Seiko's eyes widen in disbelief. The 16-year-old feels her cheeks heat up as she leans her head on the palm of her left head. She watches him dreamily, a huge grin on her face.

Mana leans over and whispers, "Girl, what is up with you?" Her roommate is in such a daze about their teacher, she flinches at the sound of Mana's voice.

"Ah heh ehe..." Seiko giggles nervously, scratching the back of her head, "I'm a big fan of Hyuga-sensei."

"Quiet, timid, little you?!"

"I never said I didn't like action movies."

Hyuga-sensei claps his hands, silencing his fidgety class. He calmly introduces himself, "I am your teacher, Ryuya Hyuga. I'm in charge of S Class. You will call me Hyuga-sensei. You all are the top 0.5% that passed the exam! Welcome to Saotome Academy. As you all know very well, Saotome Academy is a vocational school dedicated to cultivating idols and the composers who write songs for them. Every single homeroom teacher here is a working idol. All other teachers are famous, first-rate poets and composers! If you distinguish yourself, you may just be in for a major debut." He begins his lesson for their first class, dismissing them just in time for lunch.

Mana and Seiko stroll down the hall behind Ren and his hoard of fangirls. The flirtatious, orange-haired boy sends a wink their way, causing Mana to squeal in response. He gives a light chuckle and focuses back on his mini-harem.

"Did you see that?! He winked at us!" Mana giggles in excitement, blushing like a schoolgirl.

Seiko sighs in discomfort. "I think that was more focused at you than me." Her eyes lower to the floor as she shrinks back into her box.

Mana exhales, shaking her head and changing the subject for her friend, "Between the entrance ceremony and homeroom, what a strong impression! Don't you think, Seiko-chan?"

"It's almost too much to take in..." Seiko replies before paling as they enter the cafeteria. There's enough space for mobility, but this atmosphere is certainly different from when she attended public school.

"This place is huge!" her roommate gasps in awe. Unlike Seiko, Mana is intrigued by the environment of the academy's cafeteria. How many people in here want to be famous composers just like her?

"There's still a huge crowd... I'm not a fan-" The light brown-haired girl cuts off her sentence when she spots the same platinum blonde hair and fedora from before pass by through her peripheral vision. She catches a glimpse of the person's face and tenses. _I know that face! _Without any second thought, the 16-year-old girl wiggles and weaves her way through the hungry waves of students, following after the blonde hair. Soon, she makes out an off-white hoodie and a navy hat, donned by the person she is chasing after.

Loudly, Seiko calls out, "Syo-ku-" Unluckily, she trips as the heel of her shoe slides out from under her, causing her to tumble forward. Bracing herself, she closes her eyes and, against the warnings of her dance teacher, puts her hands out to block her face from the linoleum tiling. Instead of coming into contact with the floor, Seiko's palms hit against something soft, yet firm. She cautiously opens her eyes and sees her hands are pressed up against someone's chest. The girl timidly lifts her head to meet stunning eyes belonging to quite a familiar face.

"Syo...kun..." Seiko murmurs as she stares into the blonde boy's eyes.

Syo blinks a few times at the girl practically in his arms. His hands caught her by her hips. "S-Seiko-chan!" he says in almost utter disbelief.

"YOU ARE HERE!" the two 16-year-olds shout happily. They hug, laughing at pure joy with being reunited with their childhood friend. They haven't seen each other in about 6 years. Seiko and Syo back up to get a better view of the other.

Seiko chimes, clapping her palms together, "Oh my God! Look at you! You're taller than me now!" The copper-haired girl tries to measure the height difference with her hand. For years, she had been a few good inches taller than him. Now it seemed to be the other way around as she only stood at 5'2 inches.

"Look at _**you**_!" Syo points out, "You've grown out your hair!" He remembers when it only reached down to about her shoulders. The blonde boy thinks it looks great on her.

The azalea-eyed girl twirls some of her thick hair in her index finger. She lightly giggles, "Short hair just doesn't suit me." Seiko beams at her old friend. Her eyes soften greatly, "It's so good to see you again after all this time."

"SEIKO!" Mana yells over the crowd. The redhead bounds over to the reunited duo, panting. She scolds, "At least warn me when you're going to bolt away like that!"

"Mana-chan! Meet my childhood friend, Syo Kurusu!" Seiko introduces, "Syo-kun, this is my roommate, Mana Ikeda!"

Mana looks a little surprised. She hadn't expected Seiko to know someone here. She's also never seen her so relaxed before. "Nice to meet you," the freckled girl smiles.

Syo nods at his childhood friend's roomie, relieved to see that Seiko made friends with her. They boy turns back to the light-haired girl excitedly, "We have so much to catch up on! Why don't you sit with me?"

Seiko blushes and defensively outs her hands up. "I-I wouldn't want to intrude!" she politely declines. She flushes redder as Syo pats her head, ruffling her hair.

"There you go, being the worry-wart Seiko that I remember," Syo grins, "It's no bother. You're welcome to join too, Ikeda."

"Thanks!" Mana agrees for her and her roommate.

As they all get in line, the trio meets Tomochika Shibuya and Haruka Nanami. Syo smiles while he watches while Seiko calmly chatters with the other girls. Mana even notices how quickly she seems to be adapting to life at Saotome Academy. All of her shyness has disappeared for now. Once getting their meals, the group disperses, Tomochika and Haruka going one way; Syo, Seiko, and Mana going another.

They decide to sit with Ren, who waves to a group of girls watching them. Syo wrinkles his face in unamusement, causing Seiko to laugh lightly. The blonde boy lightens up and chatters away about the years he spent without her.

Mana leans in after scoping out the rest of the cafeteria. She whispers in her roommate's ear, "The level of the boys here is off the charts!"

"What?" Seiko responds, confused by her friend's sudden topic. She knows Mana is boy-crazy, but is now really the time to look at random guys?

"Helloooo!" the ginger-haired girl waves a hand in front of Seiko's face, "It's tough to be a girl with so many hotties roaming around!" Mana's pretty, brown eyes fixate on a blue-haired boy sitting not too far from them.

Seiko gives an uncomfortable chuckle, "I-is that so?" She pushes her chair back, excusing herself from the table momentarily to throw her trash away. She places her tray on top of the trash bin to be collected later.

Turning to head back to the table, Seiko is caught off-guard as a tall boy with honey-blonde, wavy hair scoops her up in his arms twirling while laughing in joy. She lets out a scream which alerts Syo who, along with Mana, comes to her aid.

"OY, NATSUKI! PUT HER DOWN!" Syo shouts, angrily.

Seiko pauses. "Natsuki?" The 16-year-old glances down, recognizing the name to see another familiar face. "Na-chan?!" she gasps as she realizes the boy that picked her up is only Natsuki Shinomiya, another childhood playmate of hers.

Natsuki lets her down but gives her a loving bear-hug before backing off. "You do remember me, Seiko-chan!"

"Yeah! I just didn't realize it was you at first!" Seiko laughed.

Natsuki hugs her again, "You're still as cute as ever!"

Syo pries Natsuki off of Seiko. "Hey! Don't suffocate her!" he scolds, being oddly protective.

Seiko shakes her head, "He means no harm, Syo-kun. Besides, I'm so happy to see both of you again!" The girl grins widely, causing Syo to sigh and let Natsuki off with a small warning.

"Just how many boys do you know at this school?!" Mana demands, putting her hands on her hips.

Seiko giggles, "Just these two I think. I almost can't believe it. After all these years, we're reunited here... I've missed you two so much!" She hugs both boys, earning embraces back from them as well.

After the trio of Seiko, Syo, and Natsuki's reunion, Seiko and Mana head to their dorm to unpack their belongings. As night draws closer, the closer they are to being finished. While Mana places posters up on her wall, Seiko places picture frames on the shelves of her desk.

"Is that a younger Kurusu-san and Shinomiya-san?" Mana asks, coming over and pointing at the picture frame with a younger Seiko playing on the swings with two other boys who looked just like said boys that she'd met earlier.

"Yep," she answers while placing another one of just her and Syo on her desk in an open space.

Mana glances back at her barely unpacked knickknacks to put on her own desk. Sighing, she shakes her head, "We start classes tomorrow and I've barely unpacked..." The ginger-haired girl stops as she observes her roommate staring dreamily at the picture of her and Syo, smiling like a loon. "You sure are close to him."

"Ahahaha... well... I didn't have too many friends," Seiko admits, "I was terribly shy and people used to bully me. I used to shut down at even the thought of human interaction. But... but Syo-kun... he helped me open my shell... even if it was only ever-so slightly."

Mana smiles, "I see." Now, she understands why Seiko seems to get so flustered over a large group of people. She's a nice girl and she bets that people walked all over her. Mana hugs her roommate tightly, "Well; now you've got me to help break it some more."

The next morning, classes were ready to begin. Seiko, Syo, and Mana sat in a line in the front row, closest to Hyuga-sensei.

"Everyone here has survived the entrance exam. But your real battle begins today," Hyuga-sensei lectures, pacing down the separate isles of desks along with the front of his room, "People in the idol course, raise your hands!" Ren Jinguji, Syo Kurusu, Seiko Morishige, and about half of his other students raise their hands. "People in the musical composition course?" Mana Ikeda and the rest of his class raise their hands. He continues, "You'll be studying together in order to acquaint yourselves with each other, but the end of the first term, the idol course students and composition students will pair up."

Ryuya pauses, allowing his students to murmur for a few moments in surprise. When they quiet, he moves on, "And your partner won't necessarily have to come from this S Class. You're free to pick a partner of your liking from A Class, B Class, or any class. Your graduation audition will be performed in that pairing! And the road to a major debut will be opened to the victorious pairs! Until the official pairs are decided at the end of the first term, you should get to know a lot of people and search for the perfect partner."

Mana glances over at Seiko and sighs. She can tell that Seiko is shutting down at the idea of having to meet new people. "Don't shut down on me just yet. You'll be fine!" Mana scolds, leaning over.

Hyuga-sensei pauses at the front of the class. "And one more thing," he adds, "There's a very important rule. That rule is... romance is absolutely forbidden!"

Seiko and Syo stare at each other in shock, not really knowing why they chose to look at the other in the first place.


	2. Yuukei Yesterday

**A/N:  
For a special somebody, and she knows who she is. Are you happy?! You better be! XD  
All rights go to Jin (Shizen no Teki-P). JubyPhonic is also to be credited as some of her lyrics were used. Keep on singing, Juby!  
Enjoy the read! Please review!**

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"Romance is absolutely forbidden!" Hyuga-sensei announces, "Male and female relations are strictly forbidden. Violators of this rule will be forced to leave the school immediately. This is the academy's rule." He pauses for his students to whisper among themselves in surprise.

Syo and Seiko's eye fly to the other unintentionally. They stare at each other in shock. Realizing that she is in fact staring, Seiko flushes and looks away. Why on Earth did she look his way? There was a no dating rule, so what? Why should she care? The 16 year old didn't enroll in this academy to date. Still... she can't figure out why, of all people, her eyes sought his face.

Ryuya continues, letting his class simmer down, "Now, we'll do a recording test to check your skill levels."

"Oh wow, already?!"

"This is it!"

Seiko tenses, knowing that there was a catch to this. There has to be. Saotome Academy is a highly established music school. Only the best of the best could attend here. This must be how they sift through their student body to find the famous idols and composers.

"You'll be in pairs for this assignment. The student from the idol course will write lyrics while the student from the composer course will write a song.

Seiko freezes and stops breathing for a few seconds in panic. She feels her complexion in her face pale. Her azalea eyes shrink in fear. _W-write lyrics?! I... I can't do this... not within such a short period of time and notice! _

Unlike her unnerved roommate, Mana's brown eyes twinkle with excitement. Here's her chance to stand out from all the other composing students! _Compose a song, I can do this!_ The redhead glances over and sees that her friend is literally melting into a puddle. She shakes her head and sighs.

"I've selected your partner for you randomly. Check the list after class and fund your partner," Hyuga-sensei says, tapping a sheet of paper attached to the board. He frowns in annoyance as his students grumble and gasp in disappointment of not being able to pick their partners. "Luck is a skill in show business. The assignment is due the beginning a week from now." With all that said and done, Ryuya begins his lesson for his homeroom.

After class, everyone lines up to figure out who's partnered with whom. Mana has managed to squeeze herself and Seiko up to the front.

Reluctantly, Seiko stares at her shoes, afraid to look for her name. She's terrified of being paired with another composer student. The only one she knows is Mana. Odds were not in her favor. She looks up her name and takes a deep breath once she spots it on the list in the middle of the page. The light copper-haired girl holds her breath as she checks out her name underneath it, her assigned partner. _Here we go..._

As her eyes read Mana's name, she's overwhelmed with relief. Happily, she turns to her roommate and friend, beaming, "MANA-CHAN! WE'RE PARTNERS!" She hugs the freckled girl tightly in joy. Seiko encourages in her usual cheerful manner, "Let's do our best!"

Mana grins back, kind of relieved that she got paired with Seiko as well. "Right!" she replies, chuckling. The brown-eyed, redhead pauses as she notices her friend staring off to the right with a weird expression on her face. Calmly, Mana asks, "Is something wrong, Seiko?"

Seiko ignores her roommate completely, focusing on her childhood best friend joking and laughing with his assigned partner, a pretty girl by the name of Akemi Nakashima. Seeing Syo laugh like that with another girl suddenly makes Seiko feel inferior to the point where she feels almost an animosity for the two. Seeing enough, the 16-year-old childishly sticks her nose in the air and puffs her cheeks out with a "hmph" before storming out of the classroom.

Mana follows after her, calling out down the hall, "H-hey! S-Seiko, wait for me!" She catches up as Seiko slows down her stomping enough for Mana to walk beside her.

"Can't believe him!" Seiko huffs, "Fooling around when he should be working on his assessment! See if I care if he fails!"

"We just got it assigned; he's got plenty of time. Chill, girly! You almost sound jealous," Mana tries consoling.

Seiko stops and whirls around in a slight rage. She shouts, "I am not _**jealous**_!" Her face is completely flustered.

Mana holds up her hands in submission. Probably wasn't the best option to accuse her like that. Gently, she says, "No need to bite my head off... Ok, you're not jealous..." Though, Mana doesn't believe her one bit.

"Come on... we've got to work on the song..." Seiko sighs, turning back around to continue heading back for the dorms.

After a few hours, the two partners have made enough progress to have made the melody for the assignment. However, they've hit a road block. Piles of crumples up sheets of paper are scattered across the floor of their dorm room as Seiko continues to be displeased with whatever lyrics she begins to write. Disappointed, she hangs upside off her bed, trying to get the blood to rush to her head and maybe give her a good idea or two.

Mana plays back the melody for the umpteenth time, hoping to spark Seiko's imagination. She looks over to her roommate who has her eyes squeezed shut, obviously to block out all other sounds than the keyboard in their room.

"The music score sounds great... but I still can't find any inspiration for lyrics..." Seiko mutters once Mana stops, sitting up straight on her bed. She tears out the sheet of paper in her notebook filled with scribbled out notes and adds it to the collection of crumpled balls on decorating their floor. Seiko hates having writer's block like this. What's worse is the fact that she isn't hurting just herself, but Mana as well. The 16-year-old, shy girl dreaming to be a famous idol flops over onto her stomach and buries her face in her pillow with an annoyed grumble.

"Don't worry," Mana advises, leaning back in her chair, "we have 'til the end of next week!"

"I'm just glad they aren't holding any other classes other than homeroom until the recording test is over..." Seiko mumbles, picking her head up from the pillow slightly.

The freckled girl sighs and shuts off her keyboard. She stands up and stretches her stiff muscles. Mana suggests, "Why don't we take a break and get something to eat? You'll have a better time thinking if you have a full stomach."

"Good idea," Seiko replies with a smile. It is a good idea to get away from this. She isn't going to get anywhere if she keeps stressing over it right now. She leaves with Mana to head to the cafeteria.

Once there and the girls have settled down at a table with their meals, Seiko notices Syo approaching them with a tray. "Syo-ku-!" she begins to wave at him but stop as her arms extends when he turns to the right to sit with Akemi. The azalea eyed girl clenches a fist and bites on her cheek.

"You okay?" Mana questions from the seat across from her.

"W-wha?! Wh-what do you mean?!" Seiko stutters at the fact that she's been caught.

"You just tensed up when you saw Kurusu-san take a seat with his partner. Are you... jealous?" Mana suggests, leaning her elbows.

Seiko blushes and averts her eyes from her nosy roommate. Scoffing in denial, with her face prominently red, "I-I don't care who h-he chooses to sit with! Y-you're being ridiculous, Mana-chan!"

Mana frowns, not believing her one bit, "O-okay..."

After they finish their lunches, the two girls return to their room to work on their assessment. Mana fiddles around with the score while Seiko continues to struggle with writing lyrics that she's proud of. Soon, Mana goes to bed while Seiko works tirelessly at her desk, scrapping around her brain for anything she could use for lyrics. Unfortunately for her, not only did she fall asleep, she wrote no lyrics she could use.

"I can't believe I fell asleep... without writing at least one good verse!" Seiko grumbles, laying her head down on her desk. Some idol student she's turning out to be...

"You talking about the recording test?" Syo's voice sounds above her. She feels him rub the top of her head. Seiko lifts her head and brightly smiles at him.

Mana nods, "Yup, we have the melody... it's just the lyrics we're really missing..."

"I know what you guys mean," Syo sighs, folding his arms, "Natsuki has been annoying me, so I haven't completed my portion yet..."

Seiko giggles, "I'm sure Na-chan doesn't mean any harm by it, Syo-kun."

"He didn't put you in the frog hat," Syo replies quickly.

"I'm sure you like cute in it," Seiko chuckles, jokingly.

Syo sharply yowls, "I am not _**cute**_!" He bites his tongue as soon as the words left his mouth. He takes in his childhood friend's hurt face as her expression soon turns to anger.

"Well, sorry for trying to be nice!" Seiko snaps in retaliation, "Next time, I won't give you a compliment, you jerk!"

"Sei-Seiko-chan... I... I didn't mean it..." Syo tries to recover.

Seiko turns her blushing face away from him. "It doesn't matter if you meant it or not, it still hurt! Just leave me alone so Mana and I can work on the lyrics that I obviously don't have!" she hisses.

Syo reluctantly takes his seat next to her. Syo knows why she's reacting in such a way. He didn't treat her like the friend she is to him. But he doesn't want her to see him as "little" or "cute" anymore. Why can't she see that's what he meant by that? Of course, it doesn't help that being made fun of over his stature shortened his temper. Still, he had no right to yell at her like that since she wasn't even making fun of his height to begin with. He should have realized that Seiko isn't the type of person to make fun of anyone else after the years of harassment she went through before they were friends. He'll have to make it up to her later when she's not so angry with him.

The squabble she just had with Syo doesn't help Seiko with writing lyrics as all she could think of was how upset he made her feel. She was only trying to be nice to him after not seeing him for 6 years. The least he could have done was thank her, not yell at her for no reason. Seiko puffs out her cheeks as she thinks of his stupid face he made when she yelled back. And once class is over, the 16-year-old girl rockets back to her dorm room, not even waiting for her roommate and partner to catch up.

"Stupid Syo-kun! Yelling at me for giving him a compliment!" Seiko mutters, punching her pillow.

Mana sighs as she witnesses her roomie take out her frustrations on the defenseless pillow. "Tell it to me straight, Seiko," Mana says.

Her friend pauses, looking at her in confusion. "What on Earth are you talking about?"

"Do you like Kurusu-san or something?" The redheaded, freckled girl interrogates.

"W-what?! N-no!" the light copper-haired girl violently stammers, "Wh-where'd you get that stupid idea?!" A huge blush becomes evident on her fair cheeks as she tries to avert her eyes from her roommate.

Mana doesn't give in and stares her down. "Seikooooo..."

"Alright! Alright! Just stop!" Seiko cries, throwing a smaller pillow at her friend. She looks at her hands, twiddling her thumbs in embarrassment. She didn't want to admit it herself. "Ever since I was little... I liked Syo-kun. He was the first person to show me real kindness. I... I wouldn't be at this school if it wasn't for him. But now... I feel so different when I look at him... He can make me _**so**_ mad and yet... my heart won't stop beating..." Her azalea eyes soften as she speaks, a light smile on her lips.

Mana herself finds herself grinning at the idea that just popped into her head.

"W-what's that look for?" her roommate asks cautiously.

"I know what the lyrics to the song can be about!"

"What do you mean?"

"Write your feelings for Kurusu-san as your lyrics!"

Seiko strongly objects, "No way! I-if they suspect anything, they'll kick me out for sure!" She hugs her pillow to her chest. There's no way she can write about how she feels. She doesn't even know herself how she truly feels about him...

"It's a song, no one will know unless you tell them," Mana replies. Even if they were to suspect her, they have no tangible proof to expel her.

"Fine," Seiko reluctantly agrees, "I'll try it..." She begins writing and is surprised when the lyrics begin flowing out of her so naturally. In a few hours, she finds her lyrics are complete and so the two partners begin practicing over and over and over for the recording test.

On the day of the assessment, S Class ends up going up last for recording. Seiko is the last person to go. She's heard all of her classmates' songs and is astonished by their talents. She realizes the mistake she made by not offering to go first. Everyone else has gone and Hyuga-sensei will be judging her song based off of everybody else. She fidgets uncomfortably as Tokiya Ichinose begins to wrap up his recording session. Nervously, the 16-year-old tightens her grasp around the hemline of her uniform skirt.

"M-M-Mana-chan... I can't sing... n-not in front of everyone like this... What if I forget my lyrics?!" Seiko whispers frantically.

Mana puts her hands on her hips and scolds, "You're going to be an idol! You'll never become one if you back out now!"

Syo, on the other hand, takes one of Seiko's hands and squeezes it for encouragement. Grinning, he murmurs in her ear quietly, "Don't worry, Seiko-chan. You'll do great." He watches as her face flushes and lightly chuckles, "Just pretend that it's just you in the studio."

"Seiko Morishige! You're our last one!" Ryuya announces as Tokiya leaves the booth.

Seiko shakily puts on a brave face and walks inside. She places the headphones on her head and nods to start the music. She takes a deep breath to calm her nerves as the music pours into her ears. She ignores the fact that there are a dozen people watching her right now. All she cares about is the music. She's doing what she loves to do and that's singing...

_They're all so happy and smiling, sunny skies above_

_Like they're wanting to get in my way_

_I'm glaring holes through the sea, parting waves in this heat_

_A morning after an all-nighter_

_Shooting daggers from my eyes as they step to the side_

_If you hate it, you don't have to stare_

"_Good morning!" he shouts to me, stretches side to side_

_And he's just standing there like his bedhead is a style_

_As if suddenly we find our eyes meet_

_Is it a sweet romance? Nope, no interest at all_

_But I wonder why _

_I can't look you in the eye_

"_That's not it, I swear…just shut up and go away!"_

_I know that pa-pa-para-part of me is glaring down the sunrays _

_Other pa-pa-para-part of me fears you might see my heart race_

_Can't hold this feeling in, it feels gross_

_What is up with this voice inside my head? _

_Wow wow wow_

_Ta-ta-tara-talking to you, scowl that I'm making _

_I don't know why but I'm breaking, voice is stuttering and shaking_

"_For the love of-NEVER MIND! Just tell me if I'm going crazy!"_

_Yeah I know, I'm acting like a moron..._

_I can't stop yawning; this classroom's the same everyday_

_Next to the window, only the two of us_

_It won't leave my mind, even when I act bored_

_And let the radio play..._

_Rising from my desk, a careless and simple mistake_

_And I knew right away I'd been caught_

_The headphones_

_I was pretending to listen to_

_Were never connected to anywhere _

"_As time goes on, he'll forget something like that"_

_I insisted to myself_

_But I'm still wondering why_

_Why my tongue always fights_

_I can't even say a word on how much he annoys me!_

_Showing a pa-pa-para-part of me so you might get the message_

_But the words I wanna shout to you get swallowed back up again_

"_It's not so bad to keep going like this, is it?"_

_I'm just too shy to tell..._

_Wow wow wow_

"_La-la-lara-looks like you've been having quite a good day!"_

"_Can't you tell that I'm annoyed by you?" I pinched your cheeks_

_That thick-headed attitude, I can't stomach it!_

_What to do? Today is about to end..._

_One more time!_

_Pa-pa-para-part of me is squinting through the sunrays _

"_Don't you dare go down yet!"_

_I sucked in my breath_

_And the pa-pa-para-part of me that's beating takes a beating_

_Yet the thrill is amazing even still_

"_I wanna ta-ta-tara-tell you!" I keep thinking as I'm sprinting_

_And I just don't understand! My heart's a bombshell and it's ticking!_

'_Fore the ba-ba-bara-breath inside is gone and sun is setting_

_If I could I would tell you what I thought_

_Can you help? I'll do anything, oh God_!

As there is an instrumental break nearing the end of the song, Seiko finds herself confident enough to take a peek over to where everyone is watching. She smiles as Syo and Mana shoot her thumbs up. Even Hyuga-sensei, her idol, is nodding. She steps close to the mic again and takes a breath before finishing out the song...

_La lala la, la lala la la_

_La lala la, la lala la la_

_La lala la, la lala la la_

_La lala la, la lala la_

_La lala la, la lala la la_

_La lala la, la lala la la_

_La lala la, la lala la la_

_La lala la, la lala la la_

Seiko removes her headphones and looks expectantly over at her teacher. She watches as he presses a button and his voice comes in from the studio.

"Well done, Morishige. You still need a bit more confidence in yourself. You seemed much more comfortable nearing the end," he instructs.

"Thank you, Sensei!" Seiko beams, taking his advice to heart. She wouldn't be able to sing to her best ability or become a successful idol if she wasn't 100% confident in herself. She returns to the group to be awarded by hugs from Mana and Syo.

Mana squeals, "Great job!"

"See, I knew you could do it," Syo adds, patting her on the head.

"Your scores will be posted at the end of the week. They'll be out in the main lobby," Hyuga-sensei addresses his students before dismissing them.

Seiko, Syo, and Mana leave together feeling closer to accomplishing their goals at this academy. Seiko never imagined that she'd be able to sing in front of her classmates like she just did. She should've believed in herself like everyone else did.

* * *

**A/N:  
By the way, I'd just like to let everyone know Midterm exams start next week so I may not be posting for a while. Wish me luck!  
Oh, and check out JubyPhonic on Youtube. She's a great singer. (And I'm not just saying that on the off-chance she reads this...)  
You probably won't know a lot of the songs she does... still, check her out!**


	3. Fire Flower

**A/N:  
All rights go to halyosy. Enjoy the read.  
And to a certain, special someone. GOT YOU! HA!**

* * *

This morning the results of the recording tests at Saotome Academy are posted in the main lobby. Syo drags a reluctant Seiko to check their scores. They'd lost Mana a bit earlier on the way here as she had spotted Masato Hijirikawa in the hall, walking by himself. Seiko thinks he is a nice guy; quiet but very polite and gentlemanly. Sure, he isn't in S Class with them, yet neither is Natsuki or a lot of their friends. In a matter of a few days of being here, the students have all found their groups to hang out with during a free time.

Refocusing on the matter at hand, Seiko eyes the board displaying the results for everyone to see. She is completely terrified. What if her singing hadn't been good enough and she failed? That would mean she'd dragged Mana down with her.

Her azalea eyes widen in surprise as she spots the score of 90 next to her and her partner's name. Her mouth gapes before turning into a large grin of accomplishment. "I passed!" the 16-year-old girl beams to her childhood playmate, "I really passed!" Ecstatic, Seiko hugs Syo who embraces her back.

"That's great, Seiko-chan! I knew you would!" the blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy congratulates with a smile. He'd scored about the same with Nakashima. Syo is relieved to see that the recording test has somewhat boosted his best friend's confidence in her abilities. Hopefully now she'd see the potential in herself like he does.

Just then, Mana and Masato come walking up as well to check their scores. Seeing her partner, the freckled girl jogs up, waving, "SEIKO-CHAAN!"

"WE PASSED!" the light copper-haired girl shouts, jumping into her roommates arms.

Mana jokes, "A-Team!" Both girls laugh while embracing. After all the trouble they'd encountered trying to fight through the lyrics, they'd ended up passing with a 90! That isn't bad, sure it isn't the highest score up there, but it still is pretty high and what really mattered is how proud the two are of their first assignment.

Masato compliments, "Good work you two."

"Thanks!" the two roommates chime, smiling back.

"Listen up, everyone!" Tsukimiya-sensei calls, claps his hands together to catch everyone's scattered attentions, "Those who didn't pass will have to take the test again next week."

Hyuga-sensei offers some words of advice, "Give it everything you have so you can pass this time!"

"Idol course students, make sure you pick up your materials for the variety show training at the office before class," Ringo Tsukimiya reminds before dismissing the student body.

Seiko suggests as Ren, Natsuki, Otoya Ittoki, Haruka, and Tomochika join the small group, "We can all head there together!" As the now large group of friends leave, she takes one last peek at her score displayed for the school to see. _I may not be completely confident yet, but... somehow I think I can make it!_

They all make it to the office together, unfortunately for Seiko, she somehow gets separated as they all leave the office. Striding quickly down the hallways in an attempt to possibly catch up with Mana, Ren, or Syo, she smacks into someone, knocking most of the binders from her hands. She sees that she'd run straight into Tokiya Ichinose. Blushing, she stammers her apology, "A-ah! I-I'm so sorry, Ichinose-san!"

Silently, as if he is almost disregarding her, Tokiya picks up her fallen binders. He hands them back to her before leaving her without a word.

_Did I say something to offend him?_ Seiko frowns at the idea that she had accidently made him upset with her. Then she remembered he is pretty quiet and focused on his music, so perhaps she really didn't do anything. Something else must be on his mind. "Shoot!" Seiko curses as she realizes she's going to be late if she doesn't hurry up. She runs all the way to the S Class classroom and slides into her seat with a sigh.

Ren, teasingly flirts, "Did you get lost on the way here, Seiko-boo?" He laughs as she flusters angrily and leaves to take his seat as well before Hyuga-sensei comes into the room.

She turns around in her seat, hissing back, "S-shut up! You all left me!" Seiko whirls back around as Hyuga-sensei strides in, silencing everyone in homeroom.

"Good morning. I know it's soon, but we're going to get started on your next song today. But first... Mana Ikeda!" the orange-haired teacher barks.

Mana stands up in response. Warily, she asks, "Yes?"

The 28-year-old man hands his student a music score. "If you would," he requests.

Mana bites her lip in response which confuses Seiko for a few moments. She wasn't like this when they were writing music together for their recording assignment. Now, Mana just looks downright nervous.

"Y-yes..." Mana squeaks, taking the score and dragging her feet to the piano. She prepares to play then just pauses, staring at the pages. Her fingers hover over the piano keys but she doesn't play a single note.

"What's she doing?"

"Is she stalling?"

"Can she not read music?"

"How'd she pass the recording test if she couldn't?"

"Maybe someone else wrote the music for her!"

Mana panics as the music notes keep switching places along with focusing in and out. All this along with the loud whisperings of her peers gives her a headache. She feels so faint. The freckled girl clutches her head before bolting out of the room in embarrassment.

Seiko jumps out of her seat but stops in the doorway. "M-Mana-chan!" she calls. The azalea-eyed girl frowns as her roommate ignores her and keeps on running down the hall. _Mana... what happened?_

"Morishige!" Hyuga-sensei snaps, "Return to your seat!"

"Yes, Sensei..." Seiko complies, returning to her seat. She shrugs as Syo sends her a confused look. She waits until after classes to go find Mana after she didn't show up to any other classes of theirs that day. She finds her in the room, curled up on her bed, her eyes red and puffy. Mana had obviously been crying by herself.

"There you are! I was so worried!" Seiko sighs in relief, "What happened?"

Mana responds quickly, "I don't want to talk about it..."

Seiko sighs and takes a seat on the edge of Mana's bed. Gently, she murmurs, "Mana, we're best friends, you can tell me anything. I'm the last person that would ever judge you..."

Mana slowly gathers herself into a sitting position, hugging her pillow. Sniffling, she mumbles, "I couldn't... I couldn't read the music."

"Huh? Was it too difficult or something?"

"No! I _**literally**_ couldn't read the music!"

"I'm not following... what do you mean?"

The freckled redhead pauses. She bites her lip, afraid to tell her roommate. It is embarrassing. Seiko would never understand. Then realizing that her best friend is right, she'd never judge her, Mana exhales. She admits, "I have minor dyslexia... and it only affects me when I try to read music under pressure. It's so humiliating!"

"No, it's not," Seiko tries to soothe.

"I'm a composer, Seiko!" Mana shouts, "I'm supposed to be able to read and write music with ease! Some days I can't tell if I'm supposed to play a C or an E ! My disability could possibly break my career!"

"Well, what if I tried to-" Seiko starts.

Mana interrupts, ending the conversation then and there, "There's nothing you _**can**_ do! Just leave me alone!"

Seiko's eyes quiver in sadness as she watches her roommate flop back down on her bed. "Mana-chan..." she whispers, sounding a little hurt. Mana turns her back away from her and the idol course student sighs. Reluctantly, Seiko leaves her roommate to go to the school store on the off-chance they might have something that Seiko could use to help her friend.

While browsing isles for anything, she happens to spot Masato picking up paint brushes off the shelf. Grinning, she approaches. "Ah! Hijirikawa-san!" Seiko calls out.

"Morishige-san... is something wrong?" the blue-haired boy questions, noticing the lack of her ginger-haired friend right away.

Seiko coughs, "Well..."

After conversing with Masato at the store and being unable to find anything useful to help Mana, Seiko returns to her dorm. Luckily, Mana has calmed herself and the two girls are enjoying relaxing in their room. Seiko is scribbling in her songbook while Mana comfortably reads a novel on her bed. The silence is interrupted by Seiko's phone vibrating on the nightstand next to her headrest.

She picks up her touch screen phone and sees that Syo has send her a text.

_Meet us by courtyard to head to kitchen. Natsuki says he won't go if you don't..._

The azalea-eyed 16-year-old giggles. She turns to Mana and explains, "I'm gonna meet Syo-kun and Na-chan for a bit, that okay?"

Mana nods, placing a bookmark in the last page she read, "Yeah, I was gonna go take a walk myself anyway."

The two roommates split ways. Each headed in complete opposite directions on campus.

Seiko arrives in the courtyard to find not only her two childhood friends, but Otoya as well. All three boys were donning aprons which, unfortunately, she didn't have. She laughs jokingly, "Are we seriously going to the kitchen? I don't have an apron, guys."

Natsuki squeals in delight as his eyes fixate on her. "Ooooh, Seiko-chaaan! That dress makes you so cuuute!"

Seiko looks down at her clothes that she threw on after classes. "What this?" she asks, playing with her skirt of her dress. It is a mint green, knee-length, and ruffled dress with peach colored, polka-dot cap sleeves and mint green cuffs. The dress also had a mint Peter Pan collar. Peach colored beads were switched with her normal beads worn to match with her uniform.

Natsuki nods, laughing, kind of unnerving Seiko a bit. Her pulls out a light blue apron with pink halter straps, decorated with an assorted cupcake pattern. A pink sash is tied round the waist and there's a pink pocket that can snap shut for her phone. The 18-year-old boy cheers, "I have one for you, Seiko-chan!"

Seiko holds up her hands, "Y-you really don't have to-!" She lets out a small yelp in surprise as he somehow is able to put her in it without much effort. "W-what the?! H-how'd you?!" she stammers in shock.

"HEY! SHE SAID SHE DIDN'T WANT IT!" Syo snaps, coming to her aid a bit too late for it really to matter.

Natsuki whines, "But it looks so cute on her..."

"Syo-kun... it's fine," Seiko sighs, giving into Natsuki's antics, feeling that it would be easier to play along than fight him, "Thank you, Na-chan." She smiles her best, her cheeks flushed a little in embarrassment.

Otoya steps up, putting a hand on her shoulder. The red-haired boy compliments, "It does suit you, Seiko."

As for Mana, she stops her walk short to gaze at the sunset from the school's small pond. It is kinda chilly down by the water, luckily she is wearing heart grey sweatshirt covered in pink hearts and navy skinny jeans. She stares silently at the calm water, enveloped in her thoughts and doesn't hear Masato approach her from behind.

"Mind if I join you, Ikeda-san?" he asks.

Mana faintly blushes and squeaks, "S-sure..." She fidgets uncomfortably at the awkward silence between them.

And then, for some reason, he looks at her. Breaking the silence, Masato calmly asks, "Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Mana says a little too quickly for her liking. She sucks in her breath as he looks at her funny.

"It must be difficult..." the blue-haired boy mutters.

Mana freezes, "W-what?"

"Your dyslexia... so that you can't read music properly sometimes. Even if I told you not to let it bother you, I'm sure it'd be impossible..." With his words, Mana realizes just exactly went on when Seiko left before they'd separated.

The composer student bristles in anger. Mana shouts in rage, "She had no right to tell you!"

Masato remains calm, defending her loose-lipped roommate, "Morishige-san only told me because she's worried about you and doesn't know what to do."

"It shouldn't have been you!" Mana hears her voice crack and knows she's about to cry. She backs away a few steps. The ginger-haired girl bows and excuses herself, "I have to go! Ex-excuse me!" She turns away from him just as her tears begin to fall down her face.

In the kitchen, Natsuki has laid out all his ingredients across the countertops while Syo, Seiko, and Otoya stand farther back. He chirps, "I'm so glad I can help you with my interests, Otoya-kun. Baking is so much fun!"

Syo looks unamused, crossing his arms while Seiko and Otoya look on in awe. The platinum blonde boy mutters, "You two are about to witness hell..."

Otoya cocks his head to the side, "Huh?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Seiko giggles, thinking that Syo's just being ridiculous. This is Natsuki Shinomiya... how harmful could he really be?

"First the eggs!" Natsuki announces, busily working. He cracks about four eggs in to the blender.

"Only the eggs are good," Syo replies under his breath.

Natsuki continues, "Then flour, butter, sugar, and chocolate!" Seiko pales as she notices that her friend didn't unwrap the two chocolate bars from their wrappers.

"N-Na-chan..." Seiko attempts to catch his attention. She turns her neck to find Syo cowering behind her and Otoya.

He shouts, "Oy! Cut it out already!"

"The secret ingredients are Tabasco, chili oil, fermented beans, and salted fish guts!" the honey-blonde, green-eyed boy chuckles happily as he pours more substances into his concoction. He blends it into a sickly brown colored solution.

Seiko cups a hand to her mouth as she suddenly feels sick to her stomach. She feels on the verge of having to tear off to the ladies' room. She glances over at Otoya who looks absolutely speechless.

"I told you to stop!" Syo screams, flailing his arms.

Natsuki ignores the trio and pours the "batter" into small cupcake tins. He explains, "Usually, I bake it to a beautiful brown in the oven, but let's do it all at once on high heat."

"Na-chan, that's probably not-!" Out of nowhere, he pulls out a flamethrower and roasts the "sweets." Seiko, along with the two other boys with her, scream in absolute terror.

Natsuki switches off the power and inspects his "handiwork." "It's done!" he coos, "Look at that beautiful chocolate color!" The 18-year-old glances over at his friends, grinning happily.

Seiko and Syo are clinging to each other while Otoya is hiding behind him. All three are trembling in fear, not that Natsuki paid any mind. If anything, he is completely oblivious.

"Syo-chan, you can eat first," Natsuki says, taking steps towards them with one of his "creations" on a plate.

Syo starts flailing his arms, letting go of Seiko. Panicking, he shouts, "Why me?! Stay back! Shoo! Shoo!" The shorter boy gets behind his red-haired friend and shoves him towards the incoming Natsuki. Syo utters quickly, "I leave the rest to you!"

"Syo-kun... AH!" Seiko squeals as he latches onto her wrist and bolts away, taking her with him. She runs through the hallways with him. The azalea-eyed girl blushes as she stares at the back of his head. _He's protecting me..._

Both finally reach outside the building and stop to catch their breaths. It looks like they've lost Natsuki... at the price of Otoya.

"S-sorry about that..." Syo pants, coughing as the cold air outside reaches his lungs. He should've known Natsuki would go overboard like that. He was stupid to allow Seiko to join them.

Seiko exhales, "I-it's... fine..."

The two 16-year-olds catch a shooting star flash across the sky.

Syo suddenly has a serious expression come over his face. He mutters, "Otoya, I'll never forget you."

"Huh?" Seiko asks, raising an eyebrow, "I'm sure he's fine."

"Syo-chaaan! Seiko-chaaan!" Natsuki's voice echoes from above them. They whirl around to see him leap out of a second-story window with a parachute. He exclaims, "Eat up!" Natsuki comes flying at them, holding a plate with another "cupcake" on it.

Syo gets in front of Seiko, blocking her. He shoves her away in order to save her. He barks, "RUN!" Just as he opens his mouth completely, Natsuki pops a piece of the "cake" inside. Syo's face turns blue and a fountain of tears of disgust roll down his cheeks. "YAAAAAH!" he howls.

"AIEEEE!" Seiko squeals, running for her life back to her dorm. She crashes into her dorm room and exhales.

Without a chance for her to recover, Mana grabs her by the collar of her dress. She angrily shrieks, "WHY DID YOU TELL MASATO ABOUT MY DYSLEXIA?! YOU HAD NO RIGHT!"

"I-I'm sorry I just..." Seiko starts.

"HE'S THE ONE PERSON I TRULY DIDN'T WANT TO FIND OUT!" Mana continues to yell.

Seiko stutters, "M-Mana-chan..."

Mana hisses, "I thought we were friends, Seiko!"

"We are! I just..." Seiko pauses, her eyes tearing up, "I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! I DIDN'T KNOW HOW I COULD HELP YOU!" She begins to cry and Mana lets go of her. Seiko doesn't excuse her actions for telling Mana's secret, but she had no idea what to do. The 16-year-old girl hiccups, "I only wanted to help..." With no other words, she throws off the apron and to the floor before flopping on her bed, facing the wall with her back to Mana.

Mana stares at her roommate in shock. She'd never expected Seiko to have much power behind her voice. She starts to feel bad that she'd snapped at her for wanting to help her.

The next afternoon when classes break for the afternoon, Mana's phone buzzes form inside her pocket. She sees she's received a text from Seiko who disappeared just after Hyuga-sensei had dismissed them.

_I wanted to apologize to you in private... Meet me in the 3rd music room._

The freckled, redhead shakes her head. She sighs, "That girl... takes things way too seriously..." She heads over to the appropriate music room. Inside she finds that she's alone. The ginger-haired composer student whispers to herself, "Did I beat her here?" Deciding she'd wait for Seiko, Mana goes over and inspects the grand piano. Her fingers graze the keys.

Mana hears the door open and she glances up, figuring Seiko had just arrived. "There you are-" she bites down on her tongue. Instead, she finds Masato. She curses, "Oooh... that girl..."

Masato sighs, "Guess you've figured out that Morishige-san tricked you into coming." In his hands he holds a stack of music scores.

"I don't need help," Mana pouts defensively.

"You really should let Morishige-san help you," Masato scolds, "That's a true friend."

Mana sighs and shakes her head. She mumbles, "I... I'm not mad at her or anything. I just... didn't want you to think of me any differently..."

"I used to be like you. When I was a child, I couldn't eat in front of my father. My father was extremely stern. My relationship with him was only that of the head of the family and his successor. But there were sometimes I felt at ease. Being with my butler made me forget all my pain. He even taught me to play the piano," Masato explains.

Mana pauses then spills, "I... when I was little... I found that sometimes I couldn't read music as well as my other classmates. It only got worse whenever I was put on the spot and had to sight-read as I got older. And... then my mom told me... that I had a slight case of dyslexia... and that she knew it... for a long time. Still... I wanted... to prove that I was just as good as any other music student."

Masato then surprises her by playing _Greensleeves_ slowly on the piano. Mana gasps as she remembers learning this as her first song on the piano besides _Mary Had a Little Lamb _and _Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star._ She tries joining in for a phrase and cheers when she gets through half of the page without difficulty, "I read the music!" She eagerly looks back and flinches as the notes twirl around much like they did in class. Her hands and fingers tense up and tremble, refusing to budge after that.

The 18-year-old sighs and gently lays his palm on top of her hand to stop her from trembling. He notices the faint blush on her cheeks but disregards it. He advises, "Remember what it was like when you first learned to play the piano." Masato removes his hands when she relaxes. He watches her as she begins to play again, reading the whole music score perfectly.

"I read it... I read all the music completely!" Mana sobs happily as tears of joy come to her eyes, "My dyslexia... didn't bother me this time! Masato-kun, thank you!" She turns to him and bows.

Masato smiles, "You just needed to calm down and not tense up. Then your dyslexia won't hinder you."

"Mhmm!" Mana nods, smiling.

Masato glances away and focuses on the piano keys. He faces his schoolmate again and says, "There's... something I want you to hear..."

_"I'm glad that I've been able to love you from the start"_

_I'll sing those words to the sky_

_A place in which I can launch up bursting dreams_

_I've left this city in search of such a place_

_Turned off the power when I felt it vibrate_

_There's no stopping a lit fuse_

_If the world were to end right now_

_I would give up everything else _

_Just to be together with you for the rest of eternity_

_Like a Fire Flower, I must not disappear_

_Sparks scatter everywhere as my dream launches away_

_"It would have been better if I had never loved you from the start" _

_I tell such a lie_

_Scenery that I'm not accustomed to_

_A forced smile_

_This festival is a bit different from your average showy one_

_The words coming from my answering machine repeat "Do your best!" again_

_This fuse has almost been put out by tears_

_If the beginning of the universe were that kiss_

_Then the starry sky would be traces of all our miracles scattered about_

_Like a Fire Flower_

_My dreams_

_Will make a thundering sound_

_So that you can easily find them_

_"It would have been better if I had never loved you from the start"_

_I guess my lie has been found out_

_Being born and being brought up_

_Separated us_

_Appearance and shape_

_Different between us_

_Man and woman_

_Like night and day, we are_

_And yet, if only our hearts could be made into one_

_If the way of life were a sparkler_

_Even if it were only momentarily, it'd be nice if it lit up us two like a sunflower_

_Like a Fire Flower_

_One day, the night sky will be filled with large flowers_

_Until the day that they bloom, wait for me_

_"I'm glad that I've been able to love you from the start"_

_I'll sing those words to the sky_

Once he played his song, Masato begins instructing Mana on how to sight-read better as well as working on relaxing so that her dyslexia doesn't interfere with her reading a music score, no matter the difficulty. Weeks after, the two decided to meet by the school's pond. Mana had been improving so well that her dyslexia rarely bothered her anymore. She owes it all to Masato...

"I can't thank you enough, Masato-kun," Mana thanks, bowing again.

Masato shakes his head, "I should be thanking you."

"Huh?" she responds.

Masato smiles out at the water. _You taught me the wonderfulness of music... by overcoming your shortcomings instead of running from them... _He remembered watching a ginger-haired girl with pretty brown eyes playing a keyboard outside a small church around the holiday times. He remembered how happy it made the people around him, how at peace with the world it made him. "But mostly... you should thank Morishige-san," Masato adds.

Mana beams, knowing he is right, "I will!" If it wasn't for her roommate, she'd never have been able to overcome her disability.

Masato gently smiles back. _Mana Ikeda... thank you._

* * *

**A/N:  
So, I'm kinda surprised I was able to write this as well as post this. My beloved pet rabbit passed away a few hours after I got home from college for the long weekend. It was really hard to watch him since there was nothing we could do. He was old, about 10-11. Rabbits live to be 12.  
I'm actually much better than I was on Thursday through Friday. My bunny had a good life and he was my buddy. We miss him and won't ever stop loving him. I thought I was going to go on a hiatus, but seeing that it didn't affect me much anymore, I can cancel that.**


	4. Your Highness My Princess

**A/N: All rights go to Pantanzu and Ayaka.  
To that special person, get ready to blush like crazy. Mwuhahahaha.**

* * *

Mana decides that because she had no class today, she'd take a stroll around campus. Course, that's because Seiko ran off with Syo before she could really object. The redhead didn't really have a problem, thinking that it is good for her to have some time with him to herself and not the whole gang. Even just Natsuki hanging off either one took away from times they could have been by themselves.

Walking around, she stumbles upon Haruka, Natsuki, Otoya, and Masato. The trio of idol students is preparing to practice a dance routine for a test later in the next week. Haruka had been asked by Otoya to assist in the music.

Mana sticks around and is amazed by the talent the boys have for dancing. However, she couldn't help but notice or more or less focus on Masato and his excellently timed moves. She notes that even his slightest movements seem graceful and eye catching. The ginger-haired, brown-eyed, composition student claps as the boys are finished with their run through of the dance.

"How was our dancing?" Natsuki asks the two girls, wanting their honest opinion. He feels confident in himself, but it wouldn't hurt to get some idea of how they're doing.

"The test is next week," Otoya adds, "Do you think we'll pass?"

Haruka joyfully exclaims, "It was wonderful! You practically had me jumping. I'm sure you'll pass."

Mana nods in agreement, "She's right, you guys looked great!"

"Alright!" Otoya cheers, nudging Natsuki playfully.

However, Masato apparently disagrees with the two girls. Shaking his head, he scolds, "No, it's still not good enough. Our rhythm is off. We're far from being perfect." Masato is a stickler for having things done absolutely perfectly. It isn't unusual for him due to his personality to try and do the very best job. His comment seems to deflate the good moods of his partners as they stare sheepishly at the ground.

"You heard him..." the red-haired boy mumbles to his curly, blonde-haired friend.

Natsuki responds, "We should be more careful with the tempo..."

Mana sighs and puts a hand on her hip. She defends, "Don't be so hard on yourselves... try to think optimistically, Masato-kun. Always focusing on absolute perfection isn't going to teach you anything."

"Really, Ren?!" A shrill, girl's voice echoes from not too far off. Her voice is joined by the many chattering of other girls. So, Ren must be making a round across campus as well with his posse of obnoxiously loud fangirls.

"You're such a celebrity!"

"How wonderful!"

Mana rolls her eyes as the group of 5 watches the flock girls fawn over him. It's not like Ren Jinguji isn't good looking, that isn't the case at all. She just is annoyed at the lack of restraint these girls obviously have. It's like they're oblivious to the fact that they are here to study music and proclaiming their love for him could very well get themselves kicked out of Saotome Academy. Now how humiliating would that be? To be kicked out of one of the most prestigious music schools in the business?

"They were such beautiful roses; I bought the whole rose garden." Ren smells the rose in an almost seductive manner, making his fangirls giggle. He turns his attention back to his fan base, grinning. The 18-year-old purrs, "I thought I'd give it to someone as a present." This results in the girls surrounding him to squeal in absolute glee.

"P-Please give it to me!"

"Give it to me, Ren-sama!"

Ren answers, flirtatiously, "If you can make me fall in love with you." Again, the girls squeal and Ren sits back to watch as he twists the girls round his finger.

"I'm surprised he can say that," Otoya comments, knowing the full consequences of declaring love for someone in this school.

"Ren Jinguji..." Natsuki murmurs, "The goddess of love must love him..."

Masato scoffs, turning away, "What nonsense. Let's get started."

Mana kneels next to their stereo. "Where do you want to start? At the top?" she asks.

"No, from the third phrase." The blue-haired idol student kneels beside her, setting the music to the appropriate position. "Right here. I want to get this part just right."

"Ok!" Mana grins and blushes lightly.

Seeing this all go down, Ren sees this as a challenge from Masato. He strides over confidently, chuckling, "Well, well. When did you become such good friends with Little Red, Hijirikawa?" He smirks as the latter stands up with tense, hostile body language. Ren continues to prod at him, telling Masato, "She and I have been bound by fate since we met."

"Huh?" Mana gasps. What was he talking about? Does he mean about when they were placed right next to one another during the examination? She doesn't get to think that hard about it because Ren slips a rose in her hand, causing Mana to flush a fair shade of red.

"Why don't you come with me?" Ren flirts, "I've been looking for someone to enjoy the sea breeze with."

Mana giggles in response, fueling Ren's behavior even more. "L-like right now?" the ginger-haired girl asks.

"Of course," Ren answers, giving her a wink to which she quietly "eeps" at.

She giggles again and agrees, "O-okay!"

Masato, finally having enough, spits, "He's only teasing you. Don't believe anything this man says."

Ren lets out a chuckle, "That's rather harsh. You're not wrong though."

"Oh," Mana mutters, feeling stupid for falling for that. She probably should have figured anyway since Ren is just a huge flirt.

"REN!" the voices of Seiko and Syo call out and everyone turns to see the two running towards them. As they draw close, they ask in unison, "What are you going to do about that lyric writing assignment?"

Seiko scolds, "Did you forget how serious Hyuga-sensei said it would be if you didn't hand something in this time?!" She puts her hands on her hips and taps her foot in annoyance at her classmate.

"Did he say that, Seiko-boo?" Ren asks nonchalantly to get a rise out of Seiko who bristles in anger. In all honesty, he didn't really care what Ryuya had to say.

Syo mocks Ren, "'Did he say that?'" The blonde boy snarls, "Yeah, he sure did!"

"Ren Jinguji!" Hyuga-sensei's voice booms from not too far away.

Syo and Seiko pale as their idol and homeroom teacher walks up with his hands in his pockets. They didn't like the aggravated expression on his face. "Hyuga-sensei..."

"Hey, Ryuya-san," Ren greets in a more informal tone.

"Ren!" Seiko snaps at him, knowing he's being disrespectful on purpose.

Hyuga-sensei ignores the obvious ruse to get him annoyed and chastises, "You skip your classes and haven't turned in a single assignment. If you continue not to take this seriously, I'll show no mercy. You'll be expelled immediately.

"What?!" Mana and Haruka gasp in shock. Okay, now this is really serious. Expulsion from one of the best music schools?!

Syo repeats, "E-Expelled?!"

"Seriously?!" Otoya adds.

"B-but!" Seiko even is caught off guard.

Ren just grins and walks up close to Ryuya. He whispers loud enough for everyone else to hear, "Ryuya-San... Ladies don't go for scowls."

Hyuga-sensei is irked by that. He snaps, "Don't get ahead of yourself, Jinguji." The orange-haired idol is then ignored by his student to which he threatens, "I'm serious! If you don't have something graded by after school tomorrow, I'll have you leave the academy! Got it?!"

Unlike Ren who clearly didn't even care, everyone else looks concerned. Expulsion for them meant they couldn't accomplish their dreams of being famous idols and composers.

"W-why don't we all have lunch?" Seiko nervously suggests in order to settle everyone down.

They all eat in the cafe before calling a meeting in the library. They have to wait a few more minutes because Natsuki had to run back to the dorm to grab something for all of them. He returns with a basket and the meeting begins.

Natsuki holds up a cookie from the basket, now on the table, "It's a cat cookie!" Sure enough, it is shaped like a cat.

"A cat?" Syo repeats, confused and also suspicious.

"I also have pig cookies too," Natsuki chirps, searching through the basket of assorted shaped cookies before holding up a striped one, "This is a zebra."

Seiko picks up one cautiously and inspects it. She asks, "Where'd you get these cookies, Na-chan?"

"I made them!" the honey-blonde with glasses beams in pride.

"What?! I knew it!" Syo yelps, smacking the cookie straight out of Seiko's hand.

She yowls at the slight pain from her hand being slapped. The azalea-eyed girl retaliates by knocking Syo's hat clear off his head before backhanding the back of his head. "That hurt!" Seiko yells, glaring.

Natsuki looks at Syo, a dark aura permeating from his body, causing Syo to flinch in his seat. The green-eyed boy defends his treats, "Syo-chan... Homemade cookies are the safest!"

"I can't trust them because you made them!" Syo argues.

Ignoring his childhood friend and roommate, Natsuki moves on to offer some cookies to Haruka and Mana, sitting not too far away. "Would you like one?" he asks with a pleasant smile.

"Thank you!" the two girls respond, going to reach for a few.

Syo becomes frantic, whispering, "You'll die if you eat that! You'll die!" The platinum blonde whistles, turning his head the other way when Natsuki, Mana, and Haruka look at him funny.

"What?!" Tomochika's loud exclamation causes the rest of the group to look over. Otoya had explained the whole situation to her as she had joined in after everything went down. "Jinguji-san did what?!"

Otoya nods, "Yeah..."

Tomochika scoffs, rolling her eyes, "Serves him right. He's so irresponsible."

"I can't help but agree... still, I'd hate to see him expelled..." Seiko murmurs softly. Sure, she doesn't really like some of the things or the way Ren acted sometimes, but he is still a friend. It'd seem weird without him around.

"They're childhood friends, but Masa and Ren are polar opposites," Otoya comments sadly. He is disappointed that Masato didn't seem to care enough about Ren's expulsion to even show up to this meeting.

Mana perks up, questioning, "Wait. Masato-kun and Ren-kun are childhood friends?"

Natsuki nods, "That's right. They even share a room."

"Masa-yan is the successor to the Hijirikawa Conglomerate. Jinguji-san is the heir to the Jinguji Conglomerate. Because of their parent's relationship, they'd known each other since they were little.

Seiko frowns. She never had a lot of friends to begin with. And now that she has them herself, it hurt to see two good friends not getting along anymore. She sighs, "It's so sad... they don't seem to be friends anymore..."

With nothing really more to discuss, the group disperses. Mana somehow ends up on her own again. She goes back to the dorm room to practice sight-reading with some music sheets given to her by Masato earlier in the week. The redhead leaves a window open to let in some fresh air. As she moves to sit down, she hears the echo of a saxophone being played from somewhere on campus. In awe, she leans out of the window, murmuring, "What a pretty sound. I wonder whose playing."

She knows for one it isn't Seiko who specializes in the clarinet. Otoya plays the guitar and Kurusu-san and Shinomiya-san both play the violin. There are bound to be more musicians in the music school who know how to play a wide variety of instruments, just as Mana does. Though, she mostly played the euphonium.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Mana leaves to investigate, following the sound to the roof of one of the school's academic buildings. She finds Ren playing his saxophone. His melody is so beautiful; it took Mana's breath away. It somehow reaches way inside of Mana's heart, touching it deeply. All she can do is stare with a blush rising on her freckled cheeks. When he finishes playing, Mana claps, "Ren-kun!"

The 18-year-old is a bit startled. He had been so focused on playing, he didn't hear Mana approach or sense her presence at all. He kneels down to put his instrument back in its case, but still using this opportunity to flirtatiously compliment, "You look like a flower in the setting sun."

Mana's blush grows redder. She stutters, "I-I'm sorry... it was such a beautiful song... I came here out of curiosity." The composition student fidgets on her feet, avoiding his gaze for a second before glancing back up.

"I'm happy to hear that," Ren says, locking his case. He approaches her and stands real close. The idol student refrains from chuckling as the girl in front of him flushes redder and fidgets awkwardly at the lack of space between them. "As long as we can be alone together," he purrs, "I don't care what your reason is." Ren takes a hand out of his pocket so that he can place both hands on Mana's shoulders. He leans in close as if he's going to kiss her.

However, Mana's eyes are distracted by a crumpled up ball of paper that had fallen from his pocket when he removed his hand. "What's this?" she ponders, bending down and picking it up. Before she has a chance to unwrap it, Ren scoops it from her hands. "W-wait!" Mana objects, "Those are lyrics for your assignment, right? Good!"

"Good?" Ren repeats, cocking his head to the side.

"I was wondering... what it'd be like... if you didn't turn in your lyrics... and had to leave Saotome Academy. But you've written them!" Mana explains, smiling in relief. If he turns them into Hyuga-sensei, Ren wouldn't be expelled.

Ren mutters, "I think it's about time for me to disappear..."

"You can't!" Mana strongly objects.

"I'm bored of this place," Ren sighs, shrugging his shoulders.

"In that case, just leave already!" Masato yells angrily from behind them. He'd come to talk to Ren alone after hearing the saxophone, knowing full well it had to be his roommate. He didn't account for Mana to be there as well. The blue-haired boy really didn't want her getting involved with Ren.

Mana gasps, "Masato-kun!"

"I don't like you," Masato says bluntly, "My life has been decided by my father. But only in music am I free. That's why I can't forgive you for not taking this seriously." It angered him beyond no end how frivolously his roommate acted here. He focused more on flirting with all the girls on campus than music. It drives Masato insane.

"I didn't come here because I wanted to. I was thrown in here," Ren answers.

"T-thrown in?" Mana squeaks.

Ren shrugs, "There's no reason for me to be here. It's just a game to me."

"You're lying," Masato disagrees, "That tone just now was no lie. Why don't you show what you really have to offer?"

Growing bored of this run-around conversation, Ren tears up his lyrics. "I told you, it's a game." The long haired, 18-year-old tosses the shreds of paper.

"No!" Mana cries, running to try and catch the ripped up lyrics. The wind carries them off and she helplessly watches them scatter across campus. She holds back a few angered tears of failing to catch them.

"I don't have time to waste on these stupid lyrics," Ren scoffs.

Seeing how much pain Ren is putting Mana in, Masato bristles in rage. How could he just do this to her when she asked him to stay? Fed up with Ren and his mouth and his carefree attitude, he runs up and punches Ren straight in the mouth.

Mana jumps in between them to stop the two boys from breaking out into a fight which would get both of them expelled, "Ren-kun! Masato-kun!"

"How unfortunate," Masato scolds, "I thought you had more mettle." He turns on his heel and storms off, not being able to stomach Ren's face anymore.

Ren wipes his mouth, a little bruised from where his roommate popped him. He chuckles, "What a hothead."

Mana shakes her head, having a feeling that Ren taunted Masato to do that. "I'm going to look for your lyrics!" she shouts, running off, determined to retrieve them and keep Ren in Saotome Academy. Making a guess from where they'd flown off to, Mana searches close by in bushes and in trees and finds many scraps of his lyrics. However, due to it growing dark, she has to give up for the night.

The next morning, Mana takes her seat and turns, seeing that Ren isn't in the room. She turns around and sighs.

Not much long after, Hyuga-sensei comes in and begins role.

"Yuto Hirasawa."

"Here."

"Tsuyushi Morio."

"Here."

"Jinguji's absent," Hyuga-sensei remarks, marking him as such, "Let's get started. Turn to page 32 in your textbooks. Morishige, read."

"Yes, sir!" Seiko answers, before reading aloud.

After class, Mana rockets out of class to look for Ren. She has the pieces of his lyrics that she could find. She wants to give them to him. She finds the skipper resting against a tree in a field on campus. Mana holds out his lyrics, stammering, "I... uhh... didn't look much... But they're great." The ginger-haired, freckled, brown-eyed girl sits beside him and smiles, "When you fall in love with someone and release those feelings, it's just pure magic. I... couldn't find all the pieces... I'm sorry for meddling... Please don't quit, Ren-kun!" Mana shoves the taped up piece of paper in his hands. There's a section missing.

Ren laughs gently, "You really-"

"I'm going to find the missing pieces!" Mana shouts, scrambling to her feet, interrupting him. She bolts off to gather everyone else to search for the pieces.

Seiko whines, "Mana-chan, did they really fall around here?" They'd been searching for almost 4 hours. She, along with Syo, are searching in the taller grass while Natsuki and Otoya search the trees. Haruka, Mana, and Tomochika have been searching the bushes around the area. So far, none of them have found the missing scraps.

"I saw them!" Mana argues.

"He's an annoying guy, but is he really going to quit?" Syo asks, pausing in his search.

Seiko nods, "Yeah... it won't be the same if he does..."

Natsuki adds, "It would such a pity."

Just then, the school bell rings, bringing the day of classes to an end. Ren won't be able to stay in Saotome Academy anymore.

Otoya moans in disappointment, "It's no use. It's time."

"Ren-kun..." Mana mumbles, ashamed that she didn't find the rest of the lyrics in time to help Ren.

Suddenly, Ren's voice comes over the intercom, echoing across campus and in the academic buildings, "Uh... can everyone hear me?"

"Oh no, he didn't!" Seiko gasps, standing up on her feet. Being a goody-goody meant she'd never dream of breaking into the recording studio and hacking through the intercom.

"What's he up to?" Mana asks, standing as well.

Ren continues, "Little Red, can you hear me? Ryuya-san and everyone else, please listen. I just finished my song. I'll release my slumbering feelings... Until the very last phrase. It's... showtime!"

Music starts playing over the intercom. Ren is performing his song live!

Mana and Seiko start running for the recording studio but stop to whirl around. "Let's go!" they call to their friends before leading the whole mob to Ren.

_Please just tell me_

_Suddenly the wind blew, I kept my eyes closed tightly against it_

_You wrap up my cold hands_

_So now I'm sweetly melting_

_A confusing daydream of chains crawling across my bare chest_

_They were loosely bound by you_

_Only for me, it's a secret, therefore_

_Close to my ear your lips come together, your whispering voice tickles_

_My heart beats, I don't move, you're so close to me_

_Why, why, why?_

_How am I important to you?_

_If I could, I would say more, it's way too tantalizing_

_Because I want to know everything about you, please teach me_

_Your highness, you are my wish..._

_My wish is only you, so entrusted your wish in me_

_It was a flickering moment when my arm was entwined with yours unexpectedly_

_The warmth of my heart flows through my whole body_

_My blush disappears as the gentle snowfall touches my face_

_Just us in a light dizziness_

_I reach out my hand a short distance, however_

_I pulled your sleeve some way I wanted to get your attention_

_I turn towards those eyes and seem to absorbed in them_

_Please, please, please... _

_Tell me you're in love with me_

_That smiling face is like an angel's_

_I can believe that, right?_

_I want to become strong so I can protect you_

_My princess, you will be only mine_

_I want to say that but I can't_

_Alone, here I'll always wait for you _

_I'll see only you in my dreams_

_Why, why, why?_

_Please, please, please!_

_How am I important to you?_

_If I could, I would say more, it's way too tantalizing_

_Because I want to know everything about you, please teach me _

_Your highness, you are my wish..._

_You are my wish..._

_Only you are my wish, so your wish can be entrusted in these arms_

_Your wish is only me, so my wish is forever only you..._

Everyone else crashes into the studio after Ren finishes singing to congratulate him. Their all relieved to know that he'd be here to stay.

Ren smiles as Mana laughs with everyone else who is dancing around while Ren's recently recorded song plays through again. He owes being able to write and finish his lyrics because of the little redhead. If she hadn't been so determined to keep him here, he'd never have found the inspiration to continue with a musical career. This Mana Ikeda is certainly a special girl.

* * *

**A/N: I'm alive, everybody! I took a small hiatus after my beloved rabbit of 10 years passed away. Don't worry, I'm okay now. I realize how lucky I was to have been home when he went. Plus, the animal hospital we dropped him off to get him cremated gave us a plaster model of his pawprint, which I took to school to hang on my wall right by my head.  
I've also just been super busy with college lately. I had projects and papers, plus registering and scheduling classes for next semester.  
I'm trying my best. Hope you enjoyed the read.**


	5. Looks Can be Deceiving

Life for Seiko and Mana returns to normal after the whole business with Ren was settled. He is staying for good and has been showing up to every class along with turning assignments in on time and not with zero effort. Now, their homeroom teacher stands before them. He said he has an announcement before he begins class for the day.

"As you all know, your next test is a group dance," Hyuga-sensei announces, "You will be in groups of four consisting of three idol course students and one composition course student. Each group will be assigned and given a song. Your group's job is to choreograph an eye-catching dance and the idol students must be ready to perform it in 2 weeks. You may check your assigned groups after class." Finishing his reiteration of the assignment, he starts his lesson by having another composer play a piece on the piano in the room.

After class, Mana and Seiko fight the crowd to see their group members. Mana easily spots her name at the top. "I'm with... Yui Hino, Tsubasa Kaga, and Kei Arai," the ginger-haired girl reads off her group members aloud. The 16-year-old, composition student looks at her roommate who has paled significantly. Mana mumbles, "Sorry... I'm not in your group."

"W-what?! N-no! W-what if I d-don't know anyone?!" Seiko stammers, her face plastered with fear.

Mana scolds, "Seiko... you have to get used to other people, branch out. Our peers aren't that bad."

"You're right," Seiko sighs, locating her name to find her group members. She blinks a few times in disbelief. Right next to her name are Ren's and Syo's names. The azalea-eyed teen cheers happily, "YEEEES!"

Mana deadpans, shaking her head. "That _**would**_ happen," the redhead comments.

Seiko giggles, "Now... who's our composition student? Akemi... Nakashima..." She freezes as the name escapes her lips.

"Isn't that the girl who worked with Kurusu-san on the first recording test? Small world," Mana says, folding her arms.

"Y-yeah..." Seiko utters, "Small world..."

Syo, already standing with Ren and Akemi, waves to Seiko. He calls, "Oy! Seiko-chan! We've got to figure out a time to all meet for choreography!"

"I've got to meet with my group and you're being summoned by yours," Mana says, nudging Seiko towards her group members.

She saunters over and is greeted happily by Akemi, "Nice to meet you, Morishige-chan! I can't wait to work with you three!" Akemi has shoulder-length, brunette hair tied in a high-side ponytail. Seiko also notes her gorgeous amber eyes.

"M-me too..." Seiko shyly murmurs. It also doesn't help how awkward it feels to be working with someone who was her best friend's partner for the recording test.

Akemi claps her hands together, asking, "So, what would be a good time for us to all meet and work on the assignment?"

"How about we start at lunch? It gives us about an hour before classes, then we can come up with another place to meet after classes," the only idol course female student suggests.

Ren winks, "Sounds good, Seiko-boo."

"Don't call me that," she retorts with a glare. She honestly hates that nickname he's given her. At least Mana's is somewhat cute.

Bringing the group back, Syo repeats, "So, lunch then? Is that okay, Nakashima?"

"It sounds perfect!" Akemi grins, "Kurusu-kun, we have next class together, we could brainstorm after lunch!"

Seiko shyly speaks up, "I-I'm in that class too..."

Akemi gasps in surprise, "Really?! Gosh, you're so quiet, I didn't even notice!"

Seiko frowns, thinking that isn't really the case since she sits almost diagonally from her. However, she decides to remain silent and let it go.

"That's our little Seiko-chan; she's always been the quiet one!" Syo teases, ruffling the top of Seiko's hair.

Flushing, Seiko angrily snaps, "It's not exactly like I wanted to be shy and you know it!"

"Oh, come on, Seiko-chan!" Syo objects, "I was only teasing." He chuckles which fires her up even more. "You can be pretty cute when flustered," the platinum blonde remarks, making her blush redder.

Responding in a childish manor, Seiko roughly shoves him, shouting, "Sh-shut up! I'm not flustered and especially not by anything you say. So don't get any ideas!"

"H-hey!" Syo grunts, hitting his elbow against a desk, "That hurt, ya know!"

"Did it? Good!" his best friend spits, starting a glaring contest between the two.

"Now, now... let's take a step back. We shouldn't be fighting or we'll never get the assignment done," the amber-eyed girl mediates, stepping between the two.

Seiko backs off with a huff. When the quartet heads to lunch, she trails behind her three group members. She feels that every time she tried to say something, Akemi would shoot it down or interrupt her. She shakes her head, knowing she's being ridiculous. But, it doesn't get better at lunch when she doesn't seem to have a chance to give input. After a while, she gives up and remains silent. Not even Syo notices that she isn't talking. Feeling left out and practically useless, Seiko abruptly gets up.

"Hey, where're you going, Seiko-chan? Class doesn't start for another 20 minutes," Syo asks, taking note of her leaving.

Seiko quickly responds, "I don't feel so good all of a sudden..."

"Do you need to go to the infirmary?" Akemi questions, "I can take you, if you want."

"N-no... I just... I'll take care of it..." Seiko mutters, before heading out the cafeteria and heading to her classroom way early. She sits down, leaning against the wall next to the doorframe. So, it is going to be just like it was back then. Being ignored, being interrupted, being pushed aside. Guess she should have figured that.

Her teacher is surprised to find a student there for class so early, but doesn't press his student for details. He can tell something seems to be bothering her, but it is something she'd have to overcome herself. If she let herself be crushed by it, she doesn't belong in the music business.

Right before class starts, Akemi stops by Seiko's desk as she goes to take her own seat. "We decided to have another meeting before dinner. So, around 3:00 when we're all out of class." The brunette takes her seat.

Seiko half-listens to the rest of her lessons while she comes up with any sort of suggestion to throw out during the next meeting. This time, she'd have to be more assertive and try and fight to have some input. It won't feel like she actually did anything unless she adds some choreography of her own.

"I'm sorry, Morishige-chan... don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think you've got the right ideas on what's eye-catching. You don't seem like the type of person that could move in a fluid way that keeps people's attention," Akemi bluntly states as she and Seiko had a run-around over the idol student's suggestions during the meeting.

Seiko flinches in embarrassment and recoils at the stinging insult. They almost had their dance done in order to start practicing, but only a handful of Seiko's thoughts had been added. And that was because Akemi kept throwing them out; even after Ren and Syo thought they were good ideas. "W-what makes you s-say that?" Seiko asks, trying to remain calm.

"You just seem... so stiff... and uncomfortable. Could you really pull some of this stuff off?" the brunette explains, "Morishige-chan, you just don't look the part."

Having enough of being insulted, Seiko gets up without a word. She bites her lip to refrain from crying in front of her group. Briskly, she strides away, breaking into a run once she's exited the courtyard where they were having their meeting. The 16-year-old bolts up to her room and throws herself on her bed to cry. Seiko wraps her comforter around herself like a cocoon. She never felt more humiliated. How can a classmate who barely knew her judge her like that?

"You know, Nakashima, Seiko's a really good dancer," Syo defends angrily, "She actually went to a dancing school abroad when we were younger. That's why she left Japan for a bit."

Akemi pales, stammering, "I-I had n-no idea! S-she's just s-so shy!"

"Not when she's dancing. It's the one thing that she can do in front of a huge crowd of people. I would know, I've watched her. But you didn't even give her a chance to prove herself," Syo snaps. The blonde gets up and nods to Ren who stands up as well.

"W-where are you two going?" Akemi demands in shock.

Ren smirks, "To finish our assignment with Seiko-boo. She had some really neat ideas; I want to see what else she can come up with."

"You can just leave the rest to us. All you have to do is worry about the music on performance day," Syo grumbles, walking away to go to Seiko's dorm.

The boys going in and find Mana and Seiko's room. Syo knocks on the door and there's no answer. He figures she has to be in there and tests the door handle. It's not locked. Sighing, the blonde opens the door to find his best friend covered completely with her blanket. He can hear her lightly sobbing.

"Seiko-chan... please stop crying..." Syo consoles, pulling the blanket off her head so he can pet her cheek. He can't help but feel some anger towards Akemi for making her cry like this. Why does everyone feel the need to make Seiko feel absolutely worthless?! Why does everyone feel the need to judge her before they even get to know her?! "You had great ideas, right, Ren?" Syo turns to their classmate.

Ren nods, "Shorty's right, Seiko. We wanted to incorporate a lot more of what you said."

"If Nakashima doesn't even believe I can do it, what's our class gonna think of me?" Seiko hiccups, sitting up. She used to never care what people thought of her when she danced. She only cared if Natsuki and Syo were there to watch her. But Akemi's words stung, her doubts in Seiko's ability stung.

Syo clenches a fist. Great, now her confidence in her dancing is shaken. "Who cares?!" Syo shouts, "You're an awesome dancer and you know it!" The blonde 16-year-old holds her face in his hands. Her eyes tremble as he looks at her dead-on.

"S-Syo-kun..." Seiko manages to squeak out before crashing into his chest with a loud sob, "SYO-KUN!" The small, light-haired girl grasps his shirt and cries into his chest. She feels her best friend put one arm around her back, hugging her to him while he pets the back of her head with the other.

After allowing Seiko to calm herself, the trio of idol students fixes up their dance routine. Finally feeling proud of it, they run through it a few times. At first, their timing with each other is a bit off and very noticeable. They seem to get the hang of moving together after each practice run. It gets to be quite late so the trio decides to meet again to practice after classes tomorrow.

And finally, after 2 weeks of practicing almost non-stop, it is the day of the assessment. S Class is shuffled into one of the many auditoriums in order for the test to take place. Mana sits confidently with her group, though she eyes Seiko's group. Seiko, Syo, and Ren look fine but Akemi Nakashima looks like she's about ready to panic. Seiko had explained to her earlier than Akemi hadn't seen them rehearse at all since they didn't invite her. Nakashima has no faith in Seiko, so why bother have her watch?

"Group 4, you're up!" Hyuga-sensei barks as the previous group exit the stage area. He marks that it's Syo Kurusu, Ren Jinguji, and Seiko Morishige performing. By the look on their composing student's face, they might actually not be prepared for this at all.

"That Seiko girl... she's really quiet and ordinary..."

"Yeah, can she even dance in front of everybody?"

"I hope she doesn't bring Kurusu and Jinguji down with her."

Seiko hears a few of the mumblings of her peers, but ignores it. It's time to prove her classmates wrong. She _**can**_ dance. The azalea-eyed girl climbs up the stage steps with her partners and takes her pose along with them. Confidence. She has to have confidence. She can do this.

The music plays and the trio begin their routine. Jaws drop as eyes fixate on the little female dancing fluidly, becoming someone almost completely different. She's totally keeping up with the two boys with her, if not shining just slightly better than they are. Even her sharp, quick, and sudden movements are just as smooth as longer, more drawn out steps. Losing herself in the music, Seiko just relies on muscle memory to twist, turn, and jump when needed. At the end, they all strike the necessary pose at the exact same time to finish their performance.

"S-she just!"

"T-that was unbelievable!"

Mana grins from ear to ear. She knows for a fact that Seiko was going to pass this test. Mana occasionally snuck out to see their practices. Her roommate also would go and disappear for a few hours some days. The redhead followed her one day to find her just practicing all sorts of dance styles.

As Seiko comes down the stairs, Akemi runs up to her. "Nakashima-san..." Seiko starts.

"I'm so sorry for how I treated you, Morishige-chan," Akemi apologizes, bowing, "You danced really well. I shouldn't have doubted you."

Seiko smiles a bit. She takes Akemi's hands in her own. "It's okay, I forgive you," the 16-year-old idol says. Sure, Akemi said some mean things to her, but Seiko never was one to hold a grudge. Plus, a lot of her peers felt the same way. She just had to prove them wrong. "Looks can be deceiving," Seiko laughs, patching things up with the composition student.

* * *

**A/N: Gotta say, this one is NOT my favorite chapter so far. It's kinda just a filler so that you get to know just what kind of person Seiko is.  
Tiny little thing can MOVE. I've gotten many of the same comments from people when I've come to things like homecoming and prom.  
I know it's short and seems kinda rushed... I had no where to really go with it. Better chapters ahead, I promise.**


	6. Sword of Truth

**A/N: All rights go to ShinP  
To that special person who probably freaked when they saw I updated... THIS ONE IS BETTER, I SWEAR.**

* * *

With warmer weather arriving due to it finally being summer, the Saotome Academy students could switch from their spring uniforms into their summer uniforms. It is hard to believe that 2 months have flown by since coming to study music here.

Late one evening, Seiko walks down a hallway to head to Hyuga-sensei's office to drop something off for him. Once she brings it to him, she goes to meet everyone for dinner. About halfway there, she spots Tokiya Ichinose coming from the opposite direction. Perhaps he finished dinner alone. "G-good evening, Ichinose-san..." the azalea-eyed, light copper-haired girl shyly greets.

Tokiya just coldly brushes past her without a word or even a second glance.

"D-did... did I say something?" Seiko ponders to herself as she watches him briskly stride away. She shakes her head in disagreement. He isn't much of a talker anyway, so she probably shouldn't take it personally. He probably just has something on his mind. She did happen to overhear him complain to Hyuga-sensei about his recent score on a lyric assignment. Realizing her friends must be patiently waiting for her; she snaps back to her senses and jogs off to the cafeteria.

The next day is a Saturday, so that meant no classes for Saotome Academy. Seiko, growing bored of sitting in her dorm room chirps, "I'm gonna go sit outside and enjoy the weather!"

"Okay. I'm off to meet Masato-kun for sight-reading lessons," her roommate and best friend responds.

"Good luck!" Seiko calls before Mana shuts the door. Smiling, she grabs her light blue, cute owl print, canvas bag with her songbook/diary inside. She flicks off the lights before exiting and locks the door. Seiko takes a seat underneath a tree just outside the small woods on campus. She hums a melody to a song she heard Mana play after composing a few phrases. Suddenly, she's hit with an idea.

"Ah!" she gasps, excitedly, "I just thought of some lyrics!" Eagerly, she digs out her book and a pen. "I better jot them down before I forget!" Seiko giggles, neatly scribbling down the lyrics that popped up in her head.

Then, she hears a sort of eerie groaning that makes her heart just about stop dead in its tracks. Seiko pales since she knows she's all by herself. Now, she's not one to believe in ghosts, but even this, in broad daylight, is making her nervous. A loud snap comes from directly behind her and having the absolute crap scared out of her, she rips out a scream, "EEEEK!"

The startled girl scrambles up and whirls around to find Syo hanging off a tree limb much like a sloth with his eyes squeezed shut. His trembling is so bad; it's even shaking the branch. He's also makes strange whimpering noises which Seiko recognizes as the moaning she heard just seconds ago.

"Ah! Syo-kun!" Seiko calls out, relieved that it is only him.

Startled by the sudden voice, Syo accidentally loses his grip on the tree branch with a yelp, "WAAAAH!" The platinum blonde flails as he plummets to the ground. He lands painfully on his back.

Seiko bolts up; worried that he may have injured himself badly. "Syo-kun! Are you okay?! I'm so sorry!" she babbles.

"Ow... ow ow ow..." Syo grunts, holding the back of his fedora while small pains fade away from where he hit the ground.

"Are you alright?!" Seiko repeats, taking another step forward. Syo then takes notice of his best friend. So, she was the one who startled him. "Are you hurt?! Do we need to go to the infirm-"

Syo sits up abruptly and angrily shouts, cutting her off, "Shut up!" Silently, he picks himself up and brushes the dirt off his clothes.

"W-what?" his best friend gasps, not sure why he just snapped at her the way he did.

Syo strides a little bit past her but then stops. He doesn't look at her, grumbling, "Don't tell anyone you saw me here." Then, shooting her a glare, the 16-year-old boy snaps, "Got it?!"

Seiko flinches at the harshness in his voice and the glare he's sporting. She averts her eyes to the ground, feeling saddened. Her sadness is quickly replaced by anger as she doesn't understand why he's so mad at her and feels the need to yell at her. Her azalea eyes brim with tears and she clenches and unclenches her fists. In one swift movement, Seiko pitches her book at him, hitting Syo square in the chest, shrieking, "SYO-KUN, YOU IDIOT!" She snatches her bag off the ground and storms off.

Syo guiltily watches her leave. He didn't mean to yell at her like that. He was just so embarrassed to have her of all people find him like that. Picking up the fallen book off the ground, the blonde idol course student looks back up to see it's too late to catch her and apologize. He murmurs quietly to himself, "S-Seiko-chan..."

And when class rolls around again, Seiko still seems pretty steamed about the whole incident. She pouts at her desk, grumbling, "Stupid Syo! What was he even doing up that tree?! He certainly didn't have to yell! Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

Mana comes in with Ren following close behind. She chuckles as she sees the annoyed expression written on her friend's face. "What's with the sour face?" the redhead giggles.

"Stupid Syo," she responds with a scoff, "It's not like I give a damn..."

"Your tsundere is showing, Seiko-chan," Mana teases with a laugh. She's been watching Seiko interact with Syo Kurusu for a while. Seiko definitely was a tsundere when it came to him.

Seiko stammers, "W-what?! Y-you're crazy!"

"Well, wipe that frown off your face! I've got exciting news!" Mana announces, planting an open magazine on Seiko's desk, "Hyuga-sensei is going to be in a movie! Look at this!" She points to the article. The page is filled with shots of Ryuya Hyuga on set and during takes of the movie.

"Ryuya-san is lead actor?" Ren questions, scoping out the article for himself.

"Precipes Prince?" Seiko then gasps, beaming, "It's the _Prince of Fights_!"

Mana scrunches her nose, "Sounds like an action movie..."

"He's getting a little old to be a prince, though," Ren comments.

Seiko shoots him a dirty look, scolding, "Hush! That's not true at all!" Her glare causes Ren to nod an apology.

"It says they're holding amateur auditions!" Mana gasps, pointing lower down the page.

"Co-starring with Hyuga-sensei?" Seiko ponders aloud. She knows for a fact Syo is a fan, just like her. They used to watch _The Prince of Fights_ marathons together all the time when they were kids. She wonders if she should tell him about this. If he even wanted to speak to her after what happened on Saturday.

Heading to the cafeteria for lunch time, it is just Mana and Seiko. Syo had slipped out of class before the two could catch him and Ren had been preoccupied by a swarm of his fangirls that met him outside the classroom.

"So, what do you want to do for lunch? I'm starving," Mana asks.

"Not sure yet," Seiko answers, "I'll have to see what they're serving today." Seiko is a picky eater. Well, not completely. She ate a relatively wide variety of food, however, there are also other foods she'd refuse to eat or even try. If she didn't like how it looked, chances were she wasn't going to eat it. Mana has a big issue with trying to get her to eat some of the food on campus sometimes.

"Just make sure you eat something that will last you until dinner..." the ginger-haired, brown-eyed, freckled girl sighs.

Seiko stops as she sees Syo sauntering towards them, a hand in his pocket and his eyes lowered. A small, brown book is tucked under his arm. She decides it's best to talk to him and tell him about the auditions for Hyuga-sensei's movie. "Syo-kuuuun!" she calls out, getting his attention before jogging up to him. "Did you know about the auditions?!"

"You mean Hyuga-sensei's?" Syo mutters quietly. Something's bothering him.

Before Seiko can ask what's wrong, Mana jumps in the conversation, teasing, "So you do already know! You must really be a huge fan!"

Syo looks over the two girls' heads as he spots Natsuki walking along one of the corridors. "Natsuki..." he says and immediately regrets it when Seiko beams happily.

"Where?!" Seiko chimes. She follows his gaze and sees Natsuki walking away. She grins and waves while shouting, "Na-chaaaan!"

Hearing his childhood friend's voice call his name, Natsuki looks up and in the direction of Seiko's call. Sure enough, he sees her waving to him. He grins as he spots Syo next to her as well. He has been looking for him! "So-chan! Wonderful news!" the honey-blonde boy shouts, happily.

"Crap!" Syo curses, latching onto Seiko's wrist before motoring out of there. He doesn't stop until he believes the coast is clear. He's dragged her all the way out into one of the courtyards. The two pant, trying to catch their breaths after running for so long.

"S-sorry," Syo sighs, "Things always get complicated when Natsuki's around. Besides, there's something I need to do before the audition."

Seiko happily shouts, "So you are going to do it!"

Syo grins, "I couldn't let a chance like this pass me by! After all, he's the Prince of Fighting!"

"Mhmm!" she smiles and blushes.

"Ah! I almost forgot!" he gasps before handing her the book under his arm, "Here."

Seiko realizes it's her songbook. She remembers throwing it at him. She must not have picked it up. "My songbook! I didn't even know I didn't have it with me!" Seiko exhales, taking the book from Syo.

"Yeah... sorry for yelling at you..." Syo apologizes, rubbing the ball of his foot on the ground.

Seiko shakes her head, disagreeing, "Mh-mh... I shouldn't have thrown my book either." The two childhood playmates smile at each other, resolving the petty argument.

"I... I want you to hear something..." Syo says, blushing.

"Eh?" Seiko murmurs, cocking her head slightly to the side.

The platinum blonde motions for her to take a seat on a nearby bench. Syo has a song for her. He came up with it the other day.

_The dream you are dreaming is bursting slightly_

_A drop of tears flows from your down casted eyes_

_Countless pains have left their marks on these wings_

_Unable to even flap them_

_You walk on slowly _

_Even though the sky we have looked upon together has not changed,_

_And still continues to shrine even now_

_But facing the blurry distant sunset,_

_There is just me now_

_To continuing on the lonely journey without even a goal_

_The sword of truth, may it slice open the deep darkness_

_To show the path towards tomorrow_

_Even if this body of mine were to break into tiny pieces_

_I will keep on challenging it fearlessly_

_Now, in order to fulfill our promise_

_In my faint memory, you are smiling at me_

_As if telling me something with your backward glance_

_The blank page had been turned without my noticing_

_Unable to even write anything on it, everything are being forgotten_

_Although the seed we planted had grew into a flower_

_And is waving in the wind now_

_Hiding the pain of my empty heart_

_Now I am alone speaking to a broken gravestone_

_The fist of passion, may it break apart the thick walls_

_To open up the locked door to the new future_

_Even if this body of mine were to burnout and become unmovable _

_I will push forward with no hesitation_

_Now, in order to bring about a miracle_

_I did not realize the fortune _

_I had in meeting you_

_Although you are no longer here_

_The promise I made to you on that day_

_I will make it come true someday_

_The sword of truth, may it slice open the deep darkness_

_To show the path towards tomorrow_

_Even if this body of mine were to break into tiny pieces_

_I will keep on challenging it fearlessly_

_Now, in order to live tomorrow_

Seiko beams as Syo finishes his song, clapping rapidly. "That was amazing, Syo-kun!" she compliments. "You're singing... always gets me... right here..." The azalea-eyed girl lays a hand on her heart, closing her eyes with a small blush rising to her cheeks. She looks back at him and laughs with that pretty laugh of hers.

Syo feels his cheeks flush and somewhat avoids her gaze. "I-s that so?" The 16-year-old boy sneaks a glance back her way.

"Yep!" she giggles in a fashion that Syo can't help but chuckle at as well, blaming it on how cute she can be.

Syo looks at his best friend with a gentle, nostalgic smile. He murmurs, "Remember how we always used to watch Sensei on TV?" He missed the days they'd spend all day holed up inside, curled up in blankets next to one another, watching reruns and new episodes of Ryuya Hyuga on television. Sharing popcorn and other snacks with her, even how her shoulder-length hair occasional brushed against his skin whenever Seiko clung to him when something on-screen scared her. He can still remember what if felt like to have her all to himself and not have to share her with Natsuki. _The Prince of Fights_ was their thing; Natsuki wasn't interested in spending all day in front of a screen like those two were.

"We sure had poor constitutions back then..." Seiko adds, "He always made us so happy..."

The blonde-haired boy puts his hands in his pockets. He says with much conviction, "I owe Ryuya Hyuga a lot. He's my hero."

"I see," Seiko smiles, looking at her best friend with such longing for the good old days. _Just like you're mine..._ It wasn't just watching Hyuga-sensei on TV that made Seiko so happy and cheerful as a child. Being able to be with Syo like that, it meant everything to her. She guesses that she owes Hyuga-sensei a thing or two since it was because of him that Seiko was able to spend so much alone time with Syo.

"When I learned he was my homeroom teacher, I was so happy!" the boy chimes before gasping in shock, "AHH!"

Seiko bolts up from her seat, shouting, "What?! What?!" She looks past his gaze and sees Hyuga-sensei jogging in a tracksuit. She watches in awe as he speedily and fiercely practices his punches and kicks while still moving. Even moving so, he looks so graceful.

"He's so cool! I wish I could co-star with him..." the two fans mumble together in fascination as they watch him jog away. Looking back at each other as the words left their mouths, Seiko and Syo begin laughing. They are such dorks, still speaking in unison even after 6 years of separation.

"SYO-CHAN, FOOOOUND YOOOOU!" Natsuki's shrill call rings out just before a huge net flies out at the two. However, it only scopes up Syo, hoisting him high into a nearby tree.

Seiko shrieks, jumping back, "Eeeek!" Seeing Natsuki walk up with a pleased expression on his face, she storms up to him. She angrily demands, "Na-chan! What the heck are you doing?!"

Ignoring her, Natsuki turns to the poor boy he's trapped, "Syo-chan, you still haven't gotten over your fear of heights."

"Fear of- oh my gosh, I almost forgot!" Seiko gasps, smacking a hand to her mouth. Syo never liked playing on anything higher than a slide and even that was tough to get him on as kids. He'd even freaked out when Natsuki pushed him too high in the swing.

"Seriously, stop! It's so high! Let me down!" Syo panics, yowling while wildly swinging the net back and forth from his desperate efforts to get out, "Stop it! Stop it! What's going on?!"

After his female childhood companion shoots him a deadly enough glare, Natsuki climbs the tree himself to free Syo. The traumatized blonde literally has to lean on Seiko while the trio heads to the library to meet up with everyone else.

"A fear of heights?" Otoya repeats after Natsuki explains the situation.

Syo grumbles with his back turned to everyone since he's still trembling like a leaf in the wind, "O-of course n-not..." He sits between Seiko and Natsuki, feeling embarrassed that everyone has to see him like this. It is bad enough Seiko saw him freak out like a middle school girl when Natsuki trapped him in the net.

Tomochika smirks, leaning on her elbows, "Looks like a serious phobia."

"That can't be good, though. The movie's called _The Precipes Prince,_" Mana adds.

"There are going to be lots of high places," the red-haired girl teases again. Tomochika stops once the light copper-haired, azalea-eyed girl to Syo's right sends her a glare.

"Sh-shut up!" the platinum blonde, acrophobe stutters, "I'm doing my best to get over it."

Seiko flinches at the memory of Syo in the tree of few days earlier. _So that's why he was hanging in that tree!_ He'd been trying to get over his fear of heights and Seiko disturbed him. She realizes he might have snapped at her due to embarrassment of being caught like that.

Natsuki whines, leaning closer to his roommate, "Don't be so secretive, Syo-chan. Why didn't you come talk to me about it?"

"Because it'd be dangerous," Syo concludes bitterly.

"There's nothing dangerous about me," Natsuki grins.

Syo furiously rubs the back of his head, shouting, "That smile's plenty dangerous!"

"Hey," Otoya suggests, "Let's all help him get over it."

"Huh?" Syo stops.

Seiko happily agrees, "Yeah! Then you'll be able to audition!" The 16-year-old, S Class idol course student beams at Syo, hoping he'd go for the idea. Friends are meant to help one another overcome hurdles.

"She's right," Haruka nods.

Tomochika shrugs her shoulders with a light smile, "I guess I'll help too."

"Count me in too!" Mana chirps.

"Your conversation sounds interesting," Ren says, coming up from behind Syo. The platinum blonde is shocked to see Ren leaning so close in with a devious grin on his lips. "Would it be alright if I joined you? It sounds like a good way to pass the time," he asks. And by that, he meant it will be entertaining to watch his classmate freak out.

Otoya questions, "What about you, Masa?"

The blue-haired boy is sitting a little further down, sipping on a cup of tea. Masato puts the cup down and sighs, "Knowing what is right and not doing it is want of courage." Meaning he's in too.

"It's decided, then," Otoya concludes, nodding.

Syo murmurs, "If you'll all help me, I guess I can give it a shot."

Of course, when he agreed to let them help him, he didn't expect much. He apparently underestimated them. And by them... he means Natsuki.

For the first level at trying to conquer his acrophobia, they forced him out onto a plank off one of the tallest clock towers on campus with a bungee cord secured round his waist. Syo pales greatly as the distance between him and the ground makes his vision fade in and out. Oh, he really shouldn't have looked down. "We're starting with this?!" Syo howls absolutely petrified to the point where he might just wet himself, "No way, no way! Absolutely not!" He flails his arms in order to keep his balance on the beam.

"Shock therapy is the best way to cure it!" Natsuki calls out to his friend who continues to panic.

Haruka asks, concerned for Syo's well-being, "Is this alright?"

Mana just shrugs her shoulders, "Probably."

Seiko starts to think that it's a little dangerous once Natsuki moves onto the ledge to give Syo a helpful shove off. Annoyed, she barks, "Natsuki! Get back here!" She glowers as the honey-blonde looks back as if he isn't going to turn back. However, the look on her face causes Natsuki to obey and saunter back. "This isn't going to help him; we're making it worse..." Seiko sighs, moving on the ledge herself to lead her best friend back to safety. She gently tells him, "Syo-kun, I'm coming out to bring you back."

"Don't you push me!" Syo's fear has driven him into full-panic mode, "Don't you push me!" He's not thinking rationally.

"You're being ridiculous," Seiko grumbles, standing directly behind him.

Syo shrieks, "I swear to God, Seiko, if you push me!" The blonde flails even more, nudging his friend a little bit from him. His rapid arm movements are also flying in Seiko's face causing her to wobble and unbalance herself.

As a few blind swings hit her, Seiko angrily spits, "H-hey! Knock it off, doofus! You're gonna make us-!" She sucks in her breath quickly and her heartbeat hitches as her foot slips when one of Syo's smacks makes her stumble. Reflexively, she latches onto Syo's shirt in an attempt to stay on the ledge, but the force of gravity proves to be greater than the two idol course students can possibly handle. She feels Syo pull her to him as they fall from the ledge.

"YAAAAAAAAAAH!" the duo scream as they plummet to the X painted in the dirt below them. The bungee cord was just short enough that Syo hung a few feet off the ground. Startled, Syo accidentally releases his grip on Seiko, dropping her to the unforgiving ground where she lands uncomfortably on her behind. Oh, Seiko's going to have both Natsuki and Syo's heads once this is all done and over as he can clearly tell from the scowl on her face and the unladylike profanities that are being quietly released from her mouth.

After a multitude of other tests, Syo's acrophobia still is not cured. In fact, as they tired more and more crazed ideas from Natsuki, his condition seems to get worse and worse and worse. The very last thing they tried caused Syo to faint from exhaustion.

Seiko runs off to the school store in order to grab some water for him. On her way out, she runs into Tokiya. "I-Ichinose-san," she exhales.

Tokiya eyes her bag before returning his attention back to his peer and classmate. He utters, "You seem busy."

"Syo-kun is going to audition for a role... so we're all helping him," Seiko replies shyly. This is one of the first conversations she's actually had with Tokiya Ichinose. Usually their conversations are a brief greeting if he even returns a "hello" in the first place. Most often, he would just walk past her or just nod.

Tokiya comments, "You must have a lot of free time..."

It's the way he says it, Seiko doesn't like it. She growls, "What?!"

"If you can afford to help others," he concludes coldly.

Seiko bristles and comes to her own defense, "I'm not doing it because I have 'free time!' I'm doing it because Syo-kun is working so hard and he's my best friend!" She sends him a glare that she notices makes him flinch for a second. Still, she's not backing off just yet. Continuing, the 16-year-old scolds, "You may not understand, but it's a very important dream to Syo-kun, so it's important to me! If you'll excuse me!" She briskly nudges past him in much of the same manner that he had done earlier in the week. The azalea-eyed girl can't storm away fast enough for her own liking.

When she gets back, Syo seems to now be running a fever. He's lying on a school bench, his face beet red and shaking. Tomochika and Mana are desperately fanning him with their handkerchiefs in an attempt to get him to cool off.

"It's so high... I'm scared... I'm gonna die... So high... so scared... gonna die..." Syo moans, completely frazzled by the events today.

"Hey, hasn't his phobia gotten worse?" Tomochika asks.

Otoya suggests, "We may have pushed him too far."

"It's time to quit," Ren concludes quickly.

Mana nods in agreement. "I think so too."

Seiko looks down at Syo sadly, gripping the plastic bag in her hands. She failed him. She couldn't help him overcome his acrophobia. She bites down on her bottom lip. _Syo-kun..._

"We're not done yet!" Natsuki announces.

"You're joking, right?" Seiko mutters, "Look at him, he's totally out of it."

Natsuki says candidly, "If anything, we've been too easy on him!"

Seiko has to disagree with that. _We practically threw him out of a plane in the last test._ Maybe Syo is right, Natsuki is dangerous. Or at least the schemes he comes up with.

"I actually happen to have a friend inventing a rocket. He told me if he goes up about ten thousand meters, he might not be scared anymore," Natsuki announces.

"WHAT?!" Syo yelps, bolting upright from the bench and his face turns green at the idea of being tied to a rocket and then shot up ten thousand meters. Then his fever rockets and his whole face grows red.

Haruka shrieks, "The water!"

Tomochika snatches the water out of the plastic bag and dumps its contents in its entirety over Syo's head, drenching him.

It seems to have worked for a few seconds as his complexion returns to normal before his face turns blue with exhaustion. "I'm beat..." he manages to utter before passing out on the bench again.

"Syo-chan, are you alright?" Natsuki asks.

Seiko grumbles, answering for him, "Na-chan, does he look alright?! I don't want to give up... but we may not have any other choice..."

"Syo-chan works so hard. I want to see him overcome his fear," Natsuki sighs sadly.

"Me too, Na-chan..." Seiko exhales, "me too..."

Haruka steps up to the two childhood friends. She questions, "Shinomiya-san, Morishige-san... do you know Kurusu-kun very well?"

"Yes, we're childhood friends," the two in question answer at the same time/

Natsuki explains, "Syo-chan and I've met each other quite a lot over the years at violin contests as well."

"And you guys used to come watch me play my clarinet in my symphonic wind ensemble's concerts as well as watch my dance recitals a lot!" Seiko adds, hugging him.

"I didn't think all three of us would come here, though. Especially since you went abroad to study dance," Natsuki nods.

Otoya interrupts their conversation, "I wonder why he's afraid of heights."

Even Seiko didn't know the answer and he is her best friend. She practically knows him inside and out. But this is one thing she couldn't grasp at what made him so afraid of heights. "Come to think of it, I can't pinpoint when the behavior started..." she sighs.

"Perhaps he had a terrifying experience in the past," Masato suggests. The blue-haired boy looks at Seiko who shrugs her shoulders. Again, she can't remember just exactly when he became an acrophobe.

Mana cocks her head, "What do you mean a terrifying experience?"

The whole group freezes when they hear the echoes of creepy laughter around them. It's Shining Saotome who peeks out from behind the bench causing Otoya, Mana, Seiko, Haruka, and Tomochika to scream in absolute terror. They had not been expecting that.

"P-Principal, when did you get here?!" Tomochika stammers.

"Eavesdropping again?" Haruka squeaks.

Otoya demands, "Were you?"

Ignoring his students at first, Shining flips himself over the bench. He then proclaims, "Listening to the concerns of devoted students is one of my responsibilities."

Seiko tries to hide her frown on her face. _Yes... but this could almost count as stalking..._

"Mister Kurusu!" Saotome Academy's principal shouts, shaking Syo by his shoulders, stirring him.

"What?" Syo yelps, snapping out of it, "What do you want?!"

Saotome soothes, "It's alright. Don't worry."

Soon enough, he ushers all the kids into his office which he then preps for a hypnosis session. The room is darkened and is only illuminated by a single candle placed in the center of a coffee table. The room is silent other than the ticking of the metronome also on said table.

"Close your eyes and slowly take deep breaths," Shining instructs.

Even though he is thoroughly unamused by all this, Syo closes his eyes and inhales and exhales. Without any real thought, he also takes a hold of Seiko's right hand with his left.

Their principal drawls, "Slowly, slow and slow, slowly. Slowly..."

Seiko raises an eyebrow as she watches her principal wiggle his fingers as he tries to put Syo in a trance. _If this didn't look so ridiculous, I'd be having trouble staying awake._ She has to admit, the darkened room only lit by one candle paired with Shining Saotome's lulling tone and the ticking of the metronome is relaxing, but seriously, wiggling his fingers like that and wearing sunglasses in a barely lit room is enough to make her suspicious of this whole hypnosis deal.

"You will calm down and begin to feel warm. And you are becoming sleepy..." Shining Saotome continue. He waits for a few moments as Syo's head droops before stopping the metronome. "Ok, you are asleep."

"No, I'm not," Syo answers, snapping his head up. He didn't even drift off during that whole thing. He scoffs, "How was that supposed to put me to sleep? Come on, don't be ridiculous. Besides, I-" Suddenly, he stops talking and he falls asleep, snoring slightly.

Seiko rolls her eyes, muttering, "Aaand he's out..."

"There, there, there. You are asleep," the red-haired, glasses wearing principal says, wiggling his fingers again, "Your memories will travel further and further back in time. You are three years old. You are riding a Ferris wheel. Are you super afraid of height?"

Syo quietly mumbles, "It's not scary... it's fun..."

Shining continues, moving up his age by one year, "Okay, you are four years old now."

"Nope, it's fun..." the platinum blonde murmurs.

"Okay," Shining Saotome proceeds, "you are five years old..."

As soon as he said the word five, Syo begins to tremble. His eyes squeeze tighter shut and he whimpers every now and then. He unconsciously squeezes Seiko's hand, alerting her that they may have found a breakthrough.

"S-Syo-kun... what's the matter?" she asks softly as if he will answer.

"Is the Ferris wheel scary?" Shining interrogates, coaxing out the answer.

To answer the question, Syo abruptly scrambles off the seat, howling, "YAAAAAAHH!" He releases Seiko's hand and pants wildly, still out of it.

"What's wrong?" the principal asks.

"I'm scared! Stop!" the poor boy continues yowling and twitching.

Shining Saotome questions, "What happened?"

"I told you! Stop chasing me!" Syo screams.

Then, it all floods back to Seiko. She gasps as the memory forms in her mind._ Wait! I remember now!_

_Syo tugs 5-year-old Seiko up the tower steps while trying to escape 7-year-old Natsuki. The latter is chasing after them, laughing maniacally while swinging around a huge fishing net in order to catch them._

"_Stay back!" Syo cries, running as fast as his legs could carry him. He trips on one of the steps, stumbling. This causes Seiko to painfully hit her knee on a step as she stumbles as well. He pulls her along, not stopping for anything._

_Seiko begins crying because of said injury to her knee. "S-Syo-kun! My kneeee! I don't wanna run anymoooore!" she sobs as he continues to drag her higher and higher up the steps. Her pretty, aqua plaid dress is ruined from scraping against the dirt on the stone stairs when she fell._

_Natsuki giggles, continuing to swing the net, "Small and cute, Syo-chan and Seiko-chan, wait!"_

_Syo shouts, "Stop! Don't chase us!" He feels bad that he's making Seiko upset, but he certainly did not want to be caught in a fishing net today._

"_I don't wanna play anymooooore!" Seiko whines. She's tired of running. All this running from Natsuki is making her hungry and thirsty too. She starts to cry louder._

"_Syo-chan! Seiko-chan!" Natsuki calls, completely oblivious to his female playmates obvious distress._

_And Syo, fearing for his life, unintentionally speeds up, much to Seiko's displeasure which she makes know by becoming almost hysterical in her crying. "Ah!" the shorter boy gasps, just barely stopping in time to avoid leading Seiko right out of the tower window at the top. He lets her go, flailing his arms to try and get back inside._

"_Syo-kun!" the azalea-eyed girl squeals, tugging him back inside just as Natsuki corners them upstairs._

"_Syo-chan, you're surprisingly energetic," the 7-year-old, honey-blonde comments, "Why don't we stop here?"_

_Panicking and not wanting to be caught, Syo takes a misfortunate step backwards. "Aah!" he cries out as his foot slips out from under him._

"_Watch out, Syo!" Seiko and Natsuki shout as they helplessly watch their friend fall backwards out the window._

_Luckily, he catches the edge of the windowsill with his hand. He makes the mistake of glancing down. He's so high up, the ground actually looks blurry. "EEEEEEEEK!" the small boy screams. Unintentionally and with no warning, his grip loosens and lets out on him since he cannot support his own weight with one hand._

"_SYO-KUN!" Seiko shrieks, catching him by his wrist just in the nick of time. Natsuki holds her by the waist as she practically dangles herself halfway out the window. Both children wince as gravity tries to pull Syo from them._

_Syo hesitantly opens his eyes again and is absolutely petrified. He yells, trying to run up the building, "So high! So scared! I'm gonna die!" His playmates succeed in pulling him back up. They end their playmate as Seiko begins to cry even worse after that scary experience._

Snapping back to reality himself, Syo bristles at the memory. "Natsuki... it was you!" he yowls, grabbing at his roommate's collar, "Why you!"

Natsuki chuckles, "Now that you mention it... I had a feeling something like that happened."

"It _**did**_ happen," Syo retorts angrily.

"I remember it too..." Seiko laughs nervously. That day had been one trauma after another; she must have forced it into her subconscious.

And then the next day, Syo gives them the news...

"What?!" Haruka gasps in disbelief, "You're not going to audition?!"

Tomochika stammers, "Wh-why not? I thought you were over your fear of heights.

Syo refuses to even look at him. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. All that work for nothing. He shakes in disappointment and anger, "Why? Look at this! Right here!" The platinum blonde points to fine print on the article about Hyuga-sensei's upcoming motion picture.

"'We are currently recruiting someone to play the protagonist's younger sister,'" Otoya reads before everyone's jaws drop.

Tomochika and Mana shout, "A girl?!"

"It's in such small print too..." Haruka mumbles.

Syo sighs, "I really wanted to co-star with Hyuga-sensei..." He looks at his best friend and lightly smiles, "Looks like you can audition, though."

"Mh-mh," Seiko disagrees, shaking her head, "I can't go for a role you wanted."

Then, Natsuki's voice echoes, "It's alright, Syo-chan! Leave it to me" They all witness him running up with a pink, frilly, monstrosity of a dress and a long, blonde wig. Where he seems to get this stuff, no one knows.

Seiko raises an eyebrow. She mutters, "He's not serious..."

No sooner had she said it that Natsuki wrestled Syo into the dress with lightning fast speed that no one even really understood what the heck just happened. "Syo-chan, you're so cute!" he gushes, snapping multiple pictures of his friend and roommate with his cell phone camera.

"You really are cute!" Haruka compliments, missing the whole point that this isn't really what Syo would want to do in order to star with Hyuga-sensei. If anything, the blonde looks as if he'd rather burst into flames.

Tomochika and Mana nod, "You know, this isn't bad."

Seiko, on the other hand, fidgets uncomfortably. She can feel a blush rising to her cheeks, staring at Syo in that dress. "I don't think this is a good idea..." she mumbles.

"Enough already!" Syo screams, finally having enough of Natsuki swirling around him, snapping pictures left and right. This is just outright damn embarrassing to be forced into a girly, pink dress such as this.

"Amazing!" a deeper male voice whistles. It's Hyuga-sensei who is in the middle of a training jog. He happened to notice the group of students and came over to investigate.

Syo pales, "Hyuga-sensei..."

Ryuya Hyuga comments, "You look exactly like what I had in mind for my younger sister! What's your name?" Does he not recognize him or something?

"It's Syo..." Syo answers, hoping to remind his homeroom teacher just exactly who he is.

"Come audition, Syoko-chan," Hyuga-sensei says, shooting him a wink and a thumbs up before continuing his jog.

Syo looks absolutely mortified. Hyuga-sensei just called him... "Syoko-chan?!" he repeats, falling to his knees, devastated.

"Oooh dear..." Seiko sighs, hanging her head.

Mana giggles a bit, "Do you think we traumatized him again?"

"You think?" Natsuki asks, clueless that it is his fault that Hyuga-sensei made a mistake in identity.

Seiko pats her depressed friend's back. She encourages, "Don't worry about it, Syo-kun... there's always another chance..." Yet, somehow, she knows he's going to be moping about this for weeks. Guess she better start preparing some pep-talks to boost his spirits...

* * *

**A/N: OMG I love this chapter/episode Mostly because I love Syo. And because I got to see baby Syo. (Shorty is still taller than me, WTF?!)  
I am up way too late. I have a 8:30 class... and it's a test. Oh well.  
I updated this as soon as possible since the last chapter was... questionable...****  
Note to self: Don't do your own fillers if you can't do a good job with it...**


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